Global aviation regulator – International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Council has adopted a new report and recommendations aimed at restarting the international air transport system in alignment with global recovery.

Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano, who made this known on Saturday, said the COVID-19 report and guidelines were produced by the Council’s Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART).

The CART’s Report, according to the global civil aviation regulator contains a detailed situational analysis and key principles focused around objectives for public health, aviation safety and security, and aviation economic recovery.

According to him, the special ‘Take Off’ document also contains guidelines for public health risk mitigation measures and four separate modules relating to airports, aircraft, crew, and air cargo.

The guidelines, Sciacchitano said were developed through broad-based consultations with countries and regional organisations and advice from the World Health Organisation and key aviation industry groups.

He listed the group to include: International Air Transport Association (IATA), Airports Council International (ACI World), Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO), and International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations (ICCAIA).

He said: “The world looked to the ICAO Council to provide guidance which governments and industry needed to begin restarting international air transport and recovering from COVID-19 ,

“We have answered this call with the delivery of this report, and with its recommendations and Take-Off guidelines which will now align public and private sector actions and mitigations as we get the world flying again, in full accordance with the latest and most prudent medical and traveller health advice available to us.”

CART Chairperson, Ambassador Philippe Bertoux, who is Representative of France to the ICAO Council said the guidelines were intended to inform, align and progress the national, regional, and industry-specific COVID-19 recovery road maps.

“These guidelines will facilitate convergence, mutual recognition and harmonization of aviation COVID-19 related measures across the globe,” he emphasised. “They are intended to support the restart and recovery of global air travel in a safe, secure and sustainable way.

“In order to be effective, we need to take a layered and especially a risk-based approach. Measures will be implemented or removed as needed based on the wide ranging medical and other factors which will be at play,” he said.

Meanwhile, the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) have demanded that aviation regulators and employers fully address health, safety and security concerns before they re-open their borders to air services and take to the skies.

They said COVID-19 pandemic had a profound effect on the global aviation industry, virtually grounding all international and national air travel.

In order to ensure crew and passenger safety as flights restart, IFALPA and ITF also release a paper outlining key considerations that need to be addressed for safe return and guidance on what measures need to be implemented on aircraft in order to ensure this happens.

The organisations called for the return to full operations to be led by current public health advice and robust risk assessments, with crew and passengers assured that standards are universal regardless of which airline they are flying on.

IFALPA and ITF called on regulators and employers to address the following key areas:

The provision of adequate and appropriate personal protective equipment for both passengers and crew safety risk assessments are undertaken by independent experts with worker representation crew members and airport workers are provided access to reliable and efficient COVID-19 testing and contact tracing.