Want to fly out soon? You must read these ICAO COVID-19 flight rules

A plane set to load passengers on international flight. ICAO photo

A plane set to load passengers at an airport.
ICAO rolls out flight rules. ICAO photo

A plane set to load passengers at an airport.
ICAO rolls out flight rules. ICAO photo

The council of the International Civil Aviation Organization(ICAO) on Monday approved a series of new health-based flight rules for the pandemic-hit airline industry as it relaunches air travel.

The protocol was drawn up by an international task force formed by the Montreal-based ICAO with the help of other UN agencies like the World Health Organisation and the powerful International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The recommendations are aimed at restarting the international air transport system and aligning its global recovery, according to a press statement on Monday night.

“The COVID-19 report and guidelines were produced by the Council’s Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART).

“They were developed through broad-based consultations with countries and regional organizations, and with important advice from the World Health Organisation and key aviation industry groups.

Source AFP Graphics

The groups are the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Airports Council International (ACI World), the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO), and the International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations (ICCAIA).

“The world looked to the ICAO Council to provide the high-level guidance which governments and industry needed to begin restarting international air transport and recovering from COVID-19,” underscored ICAO Council President Mr. Salvatore Sciacchitano.

“We have answered this call today with the delivery of this report, and with its recommendations and Take-Off guidelines which will now align public and private sector actions and mitigations as we get the world flying again, in full accordance with the latest and most prudent medical and traveller health advice available to us.”

IATA’s director general, Alexandre de Juniac, unveiled the main measures proposed in the “best practices” guide at the end of last week.

The new travel rules

The recommendations are intended to serve as a “framework” for assuring the safety of passengers and workers on planes and at airports.

*On their arrival at airports, travellers should present a health certificate and undergo an initial temperature check, under the guidelines.

*Online check-in before arriving at the airport should be given priority, and passages through security should be re-thought to limit physical contact and waiting in lines.

*Mobile tickets are advised, as well as other forms of no-contact technology, such as facial or eye scans.

“This will eliminate or greatly reduce the need for contact with travel documents between staff and passengers,” the protocol said.

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*Passengers are encouraged to travel as light as possible, with just one small piece of hand luggage. Newspapers and magazines will no longer be allowed on board, and duty-free sales will be limited.

*The wearing of a mask or face covering should be obligatory inside aircraft and terminals, where physical distancing of at least three feet (one meter) should be respected.

*Terminal access will be limited to passengers and their companions, such as those accompanying disabled travelers, and airport personnel.

*Aboard planes, passengers should wear masks, move as little as possible within the cabin, and not line up outside toilets to lessen the risk of infecting other passengers.

*People will be assigned specific toilet stalls on the plane in relation to where they are seated.

*Flight attendants will be provided with personal protective equipment that could include visors, gloves and medical masks.

However, ICAO does not advocate leaving every other seat open to assure physical distancing, a restriction that the airline industry sees as a threat to its profitability.

The organization, nevertheless, asks passengers to remain as far from one another as possible.

It also advocates that food on board be pre-packaged and that aircraft be regularly disinfected.

Temperature checks should also be taken on a flight’s arrival.

The measures aren’t obligatory but they are the product of a broad consensus that imparts “an authority that will make them a global reference for the first time on this issue since the start of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Philippe Bertoux, France’s representative on ICAO’s board, which led the “task force” debate.

“These measures will facilitate a safe and sustainable return of the air travel,” Bertoux said.

To reopen after having been grounded for months and brought to its knees financially, the airline industry is pressing for rules to be harmonized to reassure passengers and states that have closed their borders in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus.

The ICAO estimates that the pandemic will reduce the number of air passengers by 1.5 billion by the end of the year.

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