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TIACA Friday Flyer 187 – COVID-19 – Progress report on TIACA’s work with Regulators

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TIACA Friday Flyer 187 - COVID-19 - Progress report on TIACA's work with Regulators

I informed you last week that TIACA enrolled in the "Technical group on joint actions related to COVID-19". The group consists of ICAO, WHO, IATA, ACI, GEA (Global Express Association) and TIACA. It's chaired by ICAO.

Objectives of the Group

The Group lays groundwork for the unified pitch to governments addressing all the emerging issues. TIACA sees its role in the Group as using ICAO's mechanism to reach out to the States and remind them that air cargo is a great contributor to the global economy and international trade, and that it plays a very important role in preventing and battling the disastrous effect of the coronavirus.

Last Monday, March 16, TIACA, GEA and IATA made input to the work of the Group presenting air cargo issues. We were urging the authorities to create the proper environment for cargo operations with concrete requests received from the members.

What TIACA members tell us and what we feed in the Group

  • The existing structure of commercial rights within bilateral and multilateral agreements imposes restrictions on the necessity for quick change in air routes which are caused by the necessities for delivery of emergency supplies medications and industry products which are of importance for the global trade and manufacturing recovery.
  • It's important to allow airlines to quickly change the geography of the flights depending on the urgency in deliveries.
  • Slots at airports remain a problem. A good example has been shown by Amsterdam Schiphol Airport which released slots for cargo operations. Other airports would be wise to follow this example.
  • The danger of flight crew to be placed in quarantine after performing flights to destinations which are not considered as clean from the virus and the threat remains very high. Several airlines report problems with training and retraining their crews on flight simulators. Some flight simulators are situated in high risk countries and after visiting these individuals are to be placed in quarantine.
  • Some countries do not allow transit of certain goods through their territories. This involves not only foods, including fruits and vegetables but also other commodities including the masks which initially traveled from Europe to China and now the traffic is reversed, and the masks go from China to Europe and other parts of the world.

What results from the meetings of the Group

ICAO has accepted that the air cargo industry needs support and included in their State Letter Ref.: EC 6/3-20/46 dated 18 March 2020 several requests to the Contracting States, relevant to air cargo, which I would like to quote.

ICAO Secretary General is asking for "…facilitation of entry, departure and transit of aircraft engaged in relief flights and to implement all measures to facilitate the receipt of aid, including overflight and landing rights and necessary privileges and immunities for relief units…"

Furthermore, ICAO Secretary General informs that "…several States have implemented measures to prevent disruptions to such critical operations, by maintaining all cargo flights and excluding crew members of cargo flights from quarantine. There is an urgent need to ensure sustainability of the global air cargo supply chain and in maintaining the availability of medication, and equipment such as ventilators, masks and other health and hygiene-related goods, which are necessary to assist in reducing the public health risk of the spread of COVID-19."

What practical use can we make of the ICAO Group and State Letter

We have raised the profile of the air cargo industry amongst the regulators and other international organizations. We have used the positive sides of the joint work of the Group in talking to the press. We took some practical steps helping our members. As an example, I will share with you the problems emerged in Somalia and Djibouti. The administrations there took decisions which have effectively banned all international flights including cargo charter and scheduled for the next 2 weeks. Using the ICAO State Letter fresh from the press I wrote to the respective Ministers explaining why it would be proper to reconsider. I have enclosed the letters for ease of reference. And not only for this, but to urge you to bring to our attention all your problems related to the COVID-19. We are a part of the international mechanism and have well-established position amongst the regulators. We will be doing our best to assist you.

Vladimir Zubkov

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This press release was sourced from TIACA on 20-Mar-2020.