Aviation restart in Africa, Middle East threatened by...
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Passengers are seen at the South African Airways (SAA) customer desk, after SAA announced that it would immediately suspend all intercontinental flights until May 31 in response to a government travel ban aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa March 20, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]
The International Air Transport Association or IATA has raised concerns that government-imposed quarantine measures threaten the restart of aviation services in Africa and the Middle East even as more countries continue to reopen their economies.
The association said government-imposed quarantine measures in 36
countries across Africa and the Middle East account for 40 percent of
all quarantine measures globally. With over 80 percent of travelers
unwilling to travel when quarantine is required, the impact of these
measures is that countries remain in lockdown even if their borders are
open.
IATA urged governments in the region to implement alternatives to
quarantine on arrival that would allow economies to restart while
avoiding the importation of coronavirus cases.
"Africa and the Middle East have the highest number of countries in
the world with government-imposed quarantine measures on arriving
passengers," Muhammad Albakri, IATA's regional vice-president for Africa
and the Middle East, said.
"The region is effectively in complete lockdown with the travel and
tourism sector shuttered. This is detrimental in a region where 8.6
million people depend on aviation for their livelihoods."
To protect public health while restarting aviation, IATA proposed
focusing on reducing the risk of imported cases via travelers and
mitigating risk in cases where an infected person travels.
This can be achieved through discouraging symptomatic passengers from
traveling, with airlines offering flexibility to passengers who need to
adjust their schedule.
This is in addition to public health risk mitigation measures such as
health screening by governments in the form of health declarations, as
well as coronavirus testing for travelers from countries perceived to be
"higher-risk" when accurate and fast testing is available at scale.
IATA proposes reducing the risk of transmission during the air travel
journey with the implementation of the take-off guidelines published by
the International Civil Aviation Organization.
This is in addition to contact tracing to efficiently isolate any
traveler who may become symptomatic and infectious after arrival as well
as reducing risk of transmission at the destination through overall
government measures to fight the virus.
"Implementing a layered approach should give governments the
confidence to open borders without quarantine, and passengers the
confidence to fly. Air connectivity is critical to economic and
sustainable development in and across Africa and the Middle East,"
Albakri said.
According to IATA, more than 8.6 million jobs in the airline industry
and those businesses supported by aviation are at risk across Africa
and the Middle East. Thousands of jobs have already been lost due to the
shutdown of air traffic.
American Airlines selling all flight seats
An airlines worker works on an American Airlines plane that arrived at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Atlanta, Georgia, US, May 19, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]
American Airlines is ignoring social distancing guidelines and selling all seats on its flights. The carrier started booking flights to capacity on Wednesday.
Previously, the airline had said it would limit flights to 85 percent
of capacity and block certain seats to ensure social distancing onboard
its aircraft.The decision drew a rebuke from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"We don't think it sends the right message," CDC Director Robert
Redfield told members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions Committee on Tuesday during a hearing on efforts to contain the
coronavirus. "There was substantial disappointment with American
Airlines."
In response to concerns, American Airlines said it plans to notify
passengers when their flight is full and allow them to change their
reservations to another flight at no charge through Sept 30.
"We are unwavering in our commitment to the safety and well-being of
our customers and team members," the carrier said in a statement.
Other airlines that aren't capping flight capacity or blocking seats include United, Allegiant, Spirit and Sun Country.
Many other airlines continue to leave some seats vacant on flights as a safety measure.
Delta, for example, limits capacity to 50 percent in first class and
60 percent in the main cabin as part of its effort to promote social
distancing, the company said in a statement.
Air travel plunged about 90 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic,
forcing carriers to cancel flights, store aircraft and furlough workers.
That led to record losses for the industry and a drop in stock prices.
Traffic began to rebound in May after having collapsed in March and
coming close to a standstill in April amid stay-at-home advisories and
international travel restrictions.
Air travel now is higher than the 50-year low hit in April, but the
number of people scanned at airport security checkpoints is still about
75 percent below June 2019 levels, the US Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) reported.
Despite the bounce off the bottom, American plans to offer fewer flights than in most summers — the peak leisure travel season.
The airline said it plans to fly about 55 percent of last year's
schedule this July. In April and May, the airline provided about 20
percent of last year's flights. The airline has recalled some furloughed
employees.
The great unknown is whether travelers will return in large numbers if they don't feel safe.
American's decision to sell all seats on its flights plays out
against an uptick in coronavirus cases nationwide and a pullback in the
pace of reopenings in major states, including Florida and Texas.
American said, "We have multiple layers of protection in place for
those who fly with us, including required face covering, enhanced
cleaning procedures, and pre-flight COVID-19 symptom checklist."
The carrier said it has used high-efficiency particulate air filters,
commonly known as HEPA, on all its mainline jets and many regional
flights since 1990.
It said the filters capture "at least" 99.97 percent of airborne microbes by recirculating cabin air every two to four minutes.
"American has been further improving our HEPA filters by adding a
layer of activated carbon to our filers to provide additional removal of
fumes, odors and volatile organic compounds," Ben Thiesse, a senior
engineer for the carrier, said in a statement.
The virus can be spread through droplets passing through the nose or
mouth when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It also can be spread
on seats and tray tables, the CDC said.
To limit the risk of contagion, airlines now clean planes between flights and require passengers to take basic safety steps.
Airlines for America (A4A), a Washington-based trade organization,
said major US carriers voluntarily adopted measures to assure the safety
of passengers.
"You can't employ distancing on an airplane like you can on a grocery store line," Nick Calio, A4A's CEO, said in a statement.
The voluntary measures require all passengers to wear a face mask at
the airport and on the plane and to be checked for symptoms of COVID-19,
including abnormally high temperature, difficulty breathing, loss of
taste or smell, chills and sore throat, the trade group said.
Major airlines, including Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest and United, will require passengers to complete a basic checklist as part of the check-in procedure, the trade group said.
Source: By Edith Mutethya in Nairobi, Kenya| chinadaily.com.cn;
By SCOTT REEVES in New York| China Daily Global
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