ICAO Council OKs New Pandemic Response, Recovery Measures

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council approved six new COVID-19 recommendations and amended two others, as countries continue to address latest information and cooperate to optimize the role of international air transport in global pandemic recovery and ensure the speedy resumption of air travel. 

The new and amended recommendations and updated guidelines are contained in the High-Level Cover Document and ‘Take-off’ Guidelines issued by the Council’s Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART), established shortly after the pandemic was identified by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

“Following the emergence of new virus variants, the vaccine rollouts, and other innovations to battle COVID-19, the work of CART has targeted specific issues related to testing and vaccination of passengers as part of a State’s multilayer risk management strategy with the ultimate objective of restoring public confidence in air travel and getting passengers to fly again. After the 70% decrease in air traffic, international air transport can now see the light at the end of the tunnel thanks also to these new recommendations and guidelines” commented ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano. 

“The Council has also taken into account the latest position of the WHO, which specifies that proof of COVID-19 vaccination should not be made a condition for international travel,” he noted. 

Specific areas relating to the transport of vaccines on commercial aircraft have been newly addressed by the CART, requiring attention and action on behalf of pharmaceutical manufacturers, airline and airport operators, and national aviation regulators. These include addenda to the ICAO Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air to help better ensure that vaccines are safely handled, transported, and accepted to promote their rapid and effective global distribution. 

Air crew were also the focus of new recommendations pertaining to regulatory alleviations and the continuous need of service providers and air transport essential personnel, including pilots and controllers, to maintain the validity of their certificates, licenses, and other professional accreditations and approvals. 

The ICAO Manual on Testing and Cross-Border Risk Management Measures, first issued last November, has also been updated during CART Phase III to provide more detailed guidance on risk management and Public Health Corridors, information on recent scientific evidence regarding COVID-19 testing, as well as a new section on vaccination and its interdependencies with other tools available to States as part of their multilayer risk management framework.

Recognizing that the COVID-19 crisis has required countries to confront difficult trade-offs associated with health, economic, and social challenges, and that public health still remains the overriding priority, the Council endorsed the CART’s call that countries adequately consider aviation’s crucial role in the fight against the pandemic when defining related national policy and spending priorities. 

“As these new guidelines emphasize, global supply chains, emergency and humanitarian response, and the swift distribution of vaccines to needful populations everywhere rely fundamentally on air transport,” highlighted President Sciacchitano. “In light of aviation’s important role as an enabler and multiplier of economic activity, national authorities are being called upon to ensure that the guidance presented here is fully considered by all relevant decision-makers.”