The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomed the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council’s approval of the latest recommendations from its Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART). Key outputs include:
- Recommendations for
- Temporary liberalization of cargo flights
- Considering priority vaccination of air crew
- Increased cooperation among governments to implement CART recommendations and guidance
- Updated or new guidance for
- Testing certificates
- COVID-19 risk management including vaccination and its interdependencies
- Dangerous goods guidelines for the carriage of cargo on passenger aircraft used in freighter operations
- A new mechanism for reporting extended regulatory alleviations
“This is a major piece of work by states and aviation stakeholders under the leadership of ICAO and with the full support of the industry. Of course, these recommendations, guidelines and tools are only meaningful if they are adopted universally. It is crucial that states implement this guidance, particularly as they plan for the restart of international aviation when borders are able to open. As we have said many times, it was easy to shut down aviation with individual decisions. Restarting and maintaining operations to deliver economically and socially vital connectivity can only happen if all parties work together. The CART recommendations are the building blocks for that cooperation,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO.
“One of the most important recommendations from this work is the call for national authorities to ensure that CART delivers results in national decision-making. We all know how important aviation is to the economy. And the harmonized implementation of these guidelines is what will put people back in jobs by getting the industry moving again. As ICAO tracks implementation, it is also critical to track the impact of latest developments in COVID-19 on risk management frameworks, especially as we learn more about the effectiveness of vaccines against transmission,” said de Juniac.
The requirements for globally accepted COVID-19 test certificates including the technology framework for securely creating digital versions and the future incorporation of vaccination certificates were agreed.
