COVID-19: IATA urges nations to create simplified COVID rules to revive air travel

As the global borders are reopening, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged nations to create simple, predictable, as well as realistic approaches in order to restore safe and effective overseas air travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As per the press release from the trade group, IATA has advised countries to concentrate on three crucial areas, “Simplified health protocols, digital solutions to process health credentials and COVID-19 measures proportionate to risk levels with a continuous review process.” 

The IATA suggestions are described in a recently issued policy statement titled "From Restart to Recovery: A Blueprint for Simplifying Travel," the release informed. The IATA Deputy Director-General, Conrad Clifford stated that as nations begin to reopen borders in accordance with the Ministerial Declaration of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) High-Level Conference of COVID-19, the blueprint will provide them with best practices and practical considerations. 

Clifford went on to say, “Over the next months we need to move from individual border openings to the restoration of a global air transport network that can reconnect communities and facilitate economic recovery,” as per the release. Further, the goal of the Blueprint is to make the global connections more efficient during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. More than 100,000 COVID-19-related policies have been imposed by governments throughout the world, and the inconsistencies in these regulations among the countries have created huge complexities to follow. 

IATA recommends COVID rules for travelling

To avoid difficulties, the international airline Trade group has recommended certain guidelines which include elimination of the travel barrier (Quarantine and testing) for completely vaccinated tourists as well as quarantine-free flying for non-vaccinated travellers who have a negative pre-departure COVID-19 test result.

Furthermore, travel health credentials such as vaccine or testing certificates should be managed online, allowing passengers to complete the entire procedure ahead of time so that they can travel without any delay. This will further make automatic check-in operations easier, which will reduce airport queues and processing times. The International Air Transport Association has even asked governments to recognise digital health credentials like the European Travel Certificate, which is now approved by the European Union and 22 other non-EU countries.  

In addition to this, under the “COVID-19 measures proportionate to risk levels with a continuous review process,” criteria, IATA has advised creating a plan for restoring aviation connection in the aftermath of the pandemic. To improve predictability for both consumers and industry, IATA recommends making the risk evaluation which is further used to make decisions about foreign travel.

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