The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) is calling governments to rethink or refrain from introducing travel restrictions as they are causing disruptions to the aviation and travel industry worldwide.
The aviaion group points out that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has indicated that although the novel coronavirus outbreak is now present in over 100 countries, the spread is predominantly through local transmission rather than from imported cases. As such, the agency has repeatedly advised against the travel or trade restrictions as they are generally ineffective.
Based on the latest situation report issued by WHO on 10 March 2020, AAPA said that although over 90 countries have introduced some form of travel restrictions, only 45 states have informed WHO of such additional measures and provided the associated public health rationale, as required under the International Health Regulations (IHR).
“Travel restrictions cause significant disruptions to supply chains, commerce, trade and, most importantly, to peoples’ livelihoods due to the severe economic impact,” states AAPA.
It cites medical experts who have stated that air travel is safe. Moreover, the airline industry has been adhering strictly to WHO and IATA guidelines on inflight hygiene and disinfection, including the stepping up of cleaning of aircraft and airline lounges, and the use of hospital grade HEPA air filtration systems on board aircraft.
“To date, we are not aware of any reports of Covid-19 infections attributed to inflight transmission,” it added.
Andrew Herdman, AAPA director general, reiterated what he asserted in an earlier message that the airline industry is fully committed to the safety and well-being of the travelling public. Asia Pacific airlines are also well-equipped to handle health crises, and are strictly following established guidelines.
“However, the proliferation of travel restrictions worldwide, and insufficient adherence to the IHR are imposing enormous costs on society with little or no public health benefits,” he said.
“AAPA appreciates the leadership of WHO on this issue and calls on governments to fundamentally reconsider the rationale for such travel restrictions and measures, taking into account the disruption caused to people’s livelihoods and the negative repercussions to the wider economy.”
Herdman enjoined governments to strengthen cooperation and work together with aviation and health stakeholders to develop a more globally coordinated set of policy measures in addressing the current outbreak, to avoid unnecessary social and economic disruption.
“Additional resources could then be directed towards strengthening the public health response.”
On the day AAPA made the call (11 March) WHO declared the Covid-19 outbreak a global pandemic. There are now more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries and over 4,000 deaths.
Another development on the same day is the announcement by US President Donald Trump to suspend all travel from Europe to the country for 30 days in an effort to curb the spread of the virus. The “strong but necessary” restrictions would not apply to the UK, he added.
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