IATA: Planning, health credentials and global standards critical to preparations for restart

IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said (24-Feb-2021) that as airlines are now expected to burn cash throughout 2021 it is "vital that governments and the industry are fully prepared to restart the moment governments agree that it is safe to re-open borders". According to Mr de Juniac, this makes three initiatives critical:

• Planning: Safe restart of aviation after a year or more of disruption will take careful planning and months of preparation. Governments can ensure that airlines are prepared to reconnect people and economies by working with industry to develop the benchmarks and plans that would enable an orderly and timely restart;
• Health credentials: Vaccines and testing will play a role as the pandemic comes under control and economies ramp up, including the travel sector. Mr de Juniac said efficient digital management of health credentials is vital to restart, as manual processes will not be able to cope with volumes once the recovery begins;
• Global standards: As vaccination programmes and testing capacity expand, two developments have become critical - global standards to record tests and vaccines and a plan to retrospectively record those who have already been vaccinated. [more - original PR]