Page 6 - AAA JANUARY-MARCH 2021 Online Magazine

IATA Chairman Alexandre de
Juniac on what it will take to get

the aviation industry restarted

The first is replacing quarantine with testing/
vaccination requirements

So long as governments maintain quarantine requirements, there
will be no restart. With ample testing capacity, testing to travel
is the first option. And with more and more people being vacci-
nated, there is a growing population that should be able to travel
without restriction.

One key element is still missing—secure digital standards for
testing and vaccination certificates. We moved a step closer to
this with the latest ICAO CART recommendations which were
announced on Friday. This should encourage governments to
accept digital certificates. But we still need the global standards
being worked on by WHO and OECD. With millions of vaccines
already being distributed and the EU committed to its Green Pass,
you could say this already is late in coming.

The second is that governments must stay
engaged.
governments to consider stimulus measures.
This crisis is not over. Normally, I would say that governments
should set the rules and let airlines run the business. Fundamentally • We will also need planning. I have said this
that is still true. But we would have seen huge bankruptcies had many, many times, but it bears repeating. We
governments not stepped up with over $225 billion of relief. cannot restart this industry with the flip of a
switch. It will require careful planning to take
I see at least two vital roles that governments aircraft out of long-term storage, to ensure
crew qualifications, to recall laid off employ-
must play: ees, to reopen closed terminals and so on.
We can only be ready to energize the recov-
• We will need continued relief measures—particularly those that ery from day one if governments have a plan
do not increase the debt burden. Cost reduction will be a critical and share it with us. The UK is the example
help. And, eventually, stimulus. We have already seen some plans to follow. And we are starting to see some
by governments to subsidize tickets, routes, domestic journeys, similar activities in other key markets…but
etc. As part of the preparations to restart international travel, I urge not enough!

and have provided vital cash and other relief
measures to preserve the sector during the
pandemic—with direct cash infusions and
through measures such as tax relief and loan
guarantees. In total, it is valued at over US $225
billion

IndiGo Stays Wings Level
Indian Low Cost Carrier (LCC) IndiGo reported
that it operated at around 60 percent capac-
ity in its third quarter of fiscal year 2020, as
compared to the same period last year. This
had increased to around 80 percent in January.
IndiGo is also looking to exit the pandemic in

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