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ASIA-PACIFIC AIRPORTS MAGAZINE
AIRLINES
Time to take-off Subhas Menon, director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), argues that more needs to be done to reboot aviation and let the world fly again.
A
irlines look set to record net losses of $84 billion this year. Costs are declining but airlines are burning cash by the millions
every day. International revenues are not expected to reach 2019 levels until at least 2024. Tourism is expected to decline by at least 80%. The entire aviation system is in shock. The silver lining is that all stakeholders in the aviation sector are of one voice calling for its urgent restart. This crisis is not of aviation’s making. Neither is it the only sector affected. Aviation is an enabler of many things, especially global trade, tourism, supply chains and jobs. One job in aviation generates 25 others in the wider economy, while trade and global supply chains depend predominantly on aviation. Aviation can also drive the global recovery. Yet more than six months into the pandemic, most international flights remain grounded by border closures even as lockdowns are gradually eased. Hopes that international air travel would gradually return in the second half of 2020 proved premature as governments direct attention to fighting resurgent domestic infection. Whilst there have been discussions about air corridors, travel APA Issue 3, 2020
bubbles and green lanes, such initiatives have so far failed to take off due to their impractical requirements and inability to scale up to meet passenger expectations. Progress is being made on testing, contact tracing, wearing of masks and social distancing, which are now being implemented by governments across the world. Such measures are also being applied in the context of international air travel, but these are neither consistent nor co-ordinated amongst States. The last time there was no civil aviation was in 1945. Then, the world created ICAO to start civil aviation. As aviation ground to a halt in 2020, ICAO, which celebrated its 75th anniversary on August 15, again came to the rescue with guidance on aviation public health measures. ICAO issued its ‘Take Off’ Guidance in June 2020 to anchor co-ordinated efforts to restart international air travel. However, progress has been negligible as governments are preoccupied with community transmission. We cannot wait indefinitely to reboot aviation. It will take time for COVID-19 to abate and for the world to discover a vaccine or cure. We must learn to adapt to the ‘new normal’ and recreate an aviation network by applying science to mitigate identifiable risks to travellers and crew.
