KUALA LUMPUR – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has renewed the industry’s call on governments to deploy more flexible policies to safely reopen borders using screenings rather than rely on quarantine measures.
Its director-general and chief executive officer, Alexandre de Juniac, said scientifically, travellers will not be a significant factor in community transmission if testing is used effectively.
However, he said, most governments have tunnel-vision on quarantine and are not at focused on finding ways to safely re-open borders, or alleviate the self-imposed economic and mental health hardships of the lockdowns.
“A more balanced public policy approach is needed, one that is based on testing as a replacement for quarantines, so that we can begin addressing the severe side effects of Covid-19 policies,” he said at the association’s media briefing recently.
De Juniac said IATA continues to prepare for the day that governments are ready to open borders, with testing or vaccinations.
On some good news, he said the first pilot of the IATA Travel Pass application has been launched in partnership with Singapore Airlines on routes to Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.
“We are still on track for a full roll-out of the app during the first quarter of this year.” – Bernama, January 13, 2021
