Allowing vaccinated people to travel seamlessly without quarantine and PCR tests depends on the WHO’s guidelines and the policies of individual governments, said a top IATA official to the Observer.
He added that the authorities in Oman are also open to travel or health pass to reactivate the aviation sector.
Kamil al Awadhi, IATA Regional Vice-President for Africa and the Middle East, spoke during an interactive webinar on airspace opening and travel pass.
Testing and vaccinations will play a role in opening borders to travel as the pandemic comes under control. Simple, efficient, and harmonised standards for what credentials people will need to travel will boost consumer confidence and strengthen the recovery.
IATA Travel Pass will help to manage health credentials while protecting against fraud conveniently. “With Qatar Airways already piloting IATA Travel Pass and Emirates, Etihad and Gulf Air signed-up for trials, the Gulf is at the forefront of preparations’’, said Al Awadhi.
He called on governments in the Middle East to develop re-start plans to safely re-link their citizens, businesses and economies to global markets when the Covid-19 epidemiological situation permits. IATA also called for regional coordination to ensure that the plans can be efficiently implemented and urged governments to remain vigilant about the industry’s financial situation.
IATA data shows January air passenger traffic in the region was down 82.3 per cent compared to January 2019. The ongoing crisis puts over 1.7 million jobs in the Middle East and $105 billion in GDP at risk.
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