World in motion

ACI World continues to play a leading role in aviation’s battle against COVID-19, writes external relations manager, Bojana Jeremic.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the aviation sector has been, and will continue to be, unprecedented in its scale and scope.

The airport sector, as an integral part of the global aviation ecosystem, has been among the industries most heavily affected by the global pandemic.

It is still very difficult to predict exactly how the recovery of the sector will evolve but prospects for recovery in the near-term have been significantly reduced due to inconsistent and ever-changing border restrictions and confusion about quarantine and test requirements.

Aviation – a major catalyst in supporting growth in other industries – is essential to the social and economic welfare across the world. Airports alone employ more than 6.1 million people globally, which makes up 60% of all direct employment in the aviation sector.

As we continue to navigate the current challenges, airports will undoubtedly play a key role in the global economic recovery and the aviation ecosystem.

At this year’s virtual ACI World General Assembly, a resolution was adopted to support the sector’s recovery by urging airports to implement best practices for the accommodation of health measures in accordance with global and regional guidance, based on ACI’s Airport Health Accreditation programme, which is supported by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Furthermore ACI, its World Governing Board, and the Annual Assembly, are encouraging airports and States to enter into bilateral arrangements as a short-term means to alleviate quarantine restrictions and travel bans.

Key to this will be working with international, national, and regional recognised standards but also a way to communicate to passengers health authorities to develop consistent and effective protocols for about these measures. prospective travellers. As an addition to the AHA programme, ACI has partnered with

ACI welcomed the publication of ICAO’s Testing and Cross-Border Bureau Veritas, a world leader in testing, inspection and certification, Risk Management Measures Manual as a step forward in promoting the on the Airport Health Measures Audit Programme, to ensure the proper recovery of the global air travel industry. implementation of appropriate health and safety measures.

The aviation industry is united in the view that a co-ordinated and The on-site audits, conducted by Bureau Veritas, and the associated globally consistent approach to testing as an alternative to quarantine SafeGuardTM label will enable airports to demonstrate their compliance will have the dual effect of reassuring passengers that air travel is safe with a harmonised set of measures, aligned with the recommendations and encouraging them to fly knowing that they will not be subject to of national and international authorities. mandatory self isolation. This additional measure will be an excellent tool for airports to

ACI’s recently published ASQ Global Traveller Survey found that 48% illustrate to passengers, regulators and governments that health and of travellers considered themselves likely to travel within the next three safety is their number one priority, and that they are doing everything months, however, 80% of those who wanted to travel in the coming that they can to welcome passengers back and make them feel months would be dissuaded if quarantine was required. comfortable to travel again.

Airports, airlines, and their partners need to continue to increase The partnership with Bureau Veritas is another example of ACI’s the level of confidence in the entire passenger journey and provide and intention to collaborate with the industry to support recovery. communicate the measures they are introducing to keep passengers While this year has been unprecedented in terms of its disruption to the healthy and safe. aviation industry, ACI will continue to take a leadership role with global

ACI’s Airport Health Accreditation programme provides airports with organisations, governments and regulators to simplify the path for recovery for not only a tool to assess their health measures against globally airports and return to stability and emerge out of this with strength.

Air connectivity key to global economic recovery Another resolution issued at the recent World Annual General Assembly declared that airport slot allocation policies should support the recovery of air transport.

Airport connectivity is essential for the recovery of air transport, and will be a key driver of the wider global economic recovery, which is why ACI World is urging airport operators, airlines and slot co-ordinators to work together and to increase their collaboration in setting and maintaining a harmonised slot allocation process.

Historically, more than 200 airports worldwide have declared insufficient capacity to meet airline demand for flights, especially at peak times, and airports may be subject to capacity reduction in the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic because of government regulations, physical infrastructure limitations or commercial considerations.

ACI World has called upon aviation oversight authorities to recognise the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines when designing, implementing and evaluating slot allocation policies and promote an evidence-based and data-driven approach to determine slot policies that support the recovery of air traffic.

“Increased air connectivity will be an important driver of the global economic recovery and it is important that future slot allocation policies do not constrain the industry’s capacity to sustain recovery,” said ACI World director general, Luis Felipe de Oliveira.

“While slot allocation policies ensure the most efficient use of available airport capacity and manage airlines’ requests for slots in an orderly manner, the prime objective is to optimise benefits to consumers.

“Governments and regulators should recognise the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines when creating slot allocation policies and we urge capacity-constrained airport operators to define the most efficient level of capacity and for airlines to use available capacity to avoid wasting scarce airport capacity.”

The First Edition of the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG) was jointly published by ACI World, IATA, and the Worldwide Airport Slot Coordinators Group (WWACG) on June 1, 2020.

“We want to promote an evidence-based and data-driven approach to determine slot policies that support the recovery of air traffic,” noted de Oliveira.

ACI World Luis Felipe de Oliveira Director General PO Box 302 800 Rue du Square Victoria Montreal, Quebec H4Z 1G8 Canada Tel: +1 514 373 1200 Fax: +1 514 373 1201 aci@aci.aero www.aci.aero

ACI offices

ACI Africa Ali Tounsi Secretary General Casablanca, Morocco Tel: +212 660 156 916 atounsi@aci-africa.aero www.aci-africa.aero

ACI Europe Olivier Jankovec Director General Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 (2) 552 0978 Fax: +32 (2) 502 5637 danielle.michel@aci-europe.org www.aci-europe.org ACI Asia-Pacific Stefano Baronci Director General Hong Kong SAR, China Tel: +852 2180 9449 Fax: +852 2180 9462 info@aci-asiapac.aero www.aci-asiapac.aero ACI Latin America & Caribbean Rafael Echevarne Director General Panama City, Panama Tel: +507 830 5657/58 jmartinez@aci-lac.aero www.aci-lac.aero

ACI North America Kevin Burke President & CEO Washington DC, USA Tel: +1 202 293 8500 Fax: +1 202 331 1362 postmaster@aci-na.org www.aci-na.org

As of January 2020, ACI serves 668 members, operating 1,979 airports in 176 countries. ACI is a non-profit organisation whose prime purpose is to advance the interests of airports and to promote professional excellence in airport management and operations. According to ACI’s 2019 Annual World Airport Traffic Report, in 2018 airports worldwide welcomed 8.8 billion arriving and departing passengers and handled 122.7 million metric tonnes of cargo and 99.9 million aircraft movements.