Iata urges uniform biosafety rules as Mideast aviation restarts – ZAWYA

Iata urges uniform biosafety rules as Mideast aviation restarts – ZAWYA

Iata urges uniform biosafety rules as Mideast aviation restarts Global body promoting layered approach of measures to reduce risk of countries importing Covid-19 via air travel    Passengers in an airport. Image used for illustrative purpose.Closely following its grimmer warning that the global air travel would not return to pre-Covid levels until 2024, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) on Wednesday urged governments in the Middle East to implement uniform biosafety measures for passengers as aviation restarts."We are starting to see some governments in the Middle East open their borders to regional and international air travel. This is good news but those flying for the first time since the lifting of restrictions face an array of different types of biosafety measures and procedures - which is causing confusion among passengers and delaying the recovery," said Muhammad Albakri, Iata's regional vice-president for Africa and the Middle East.Forecasting a gloomier global aviation outlook on Tuesday, Iata said passenger traffic worldwide fell by 86.5 per cent in June 2020 compared to the same period last year. This compares with a 91 per cent contraction in May."We are starting to see some governments in the Middle East open their borders to regional and international