IATA urges rapid reopening of global airline industry

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

IATA or The International Air Transport Association urged governments to use the commitments reached at the ICAO High Level Conference on COVID-19 (HLCC) to make real progress towards restoring global air connectivity.

States attending the ICAO HLCC declared their commitment to 14 measures which, if acted upon, would enable airlines to meet the demands of consumers worldwide for a revival of air travel. In particular, two commitments need the most urgent action by governments.

The first sees governments commit to promoting “a harmonized and inclusive approach to facilitate safe international air travel”, while the second refers to the roll-out of ICAO guidelines on harmonising risk assessment.

Willie Walsh, Director General, IATA said in a statement that government-imposed restrictions continue to stop a revival of international travel. He mentioned that it remains 70 per cent down on pre-crisis levels.

He also said that the ICAO HLCC commitments show that governments understand what is needed to re-start global connectivity and the task now is implementation. He mentioned that some governments have already started the process and the imminent opening of the US market to vaccinated travellers will be a big step forward.

He shared that the airline industry, 88 million livelihoods, 3.5 per cent of global GDP and billions of travellers are counting on governments to deliver on the risk-managed reopening of international travel to which they have committed.

« Back to Page

• Countdown Begins: Less Than Seven Weeks Until 80th IATA AGM & WATS in Dubai

• International Air Transport Association Spotlights Sustainable Regional Travel

• IATA: Reassessing Single Use Plastics Products in Airline Sector

• Biometrics Transform Air Travel: SITA Innovative Solutions Meet Rising Passenger Demand

• Leap year boost: IATA Reveals 21.5% growth in global air passenger demand