The three global airline alliances are calling on G7 governments to agree a common set of travel and health standards to enable the safe reopening of borders.
The call from chief executives at SkyTeam, oneworld and Star Alliance bosses comes ahead of the G7 leadership summit in Cornwall later this week (June 11-13).
Kristin Colvile at SkyTeam, Rob Gurney at oneworld, and Jeffrey Goh of Star Alliance together said in a statement: “International air travel and tourism are vital to the global economy. With considerable data now available to support government decisions in managing risks, decisive action from G7 members to open borders and support clear, consistent, and data-driven measures, would remove uncertainty, particularly around testing and quarantine.”
They warn that “varying and often fast-changing rules and procedures” create “confusion and stress” for travellers.
They say fully vaccinated passengers should be exempt from quarantine; Covid-19 testing should be easily accessible, affordable and consistent; and connecting passengers at airports should not be subject to additional testing or quarantine restrictions at the point of transfer if remaining in the transit zone.
The alliances also support Iata’s call for governments to adopt digital processes to manage travel health credentials including vaccine and test certificates, and for G7 member states to agree to common requirements and standards for health credentials as set out by the World Health Organisation and International Civil Aviation Organisation.
The CEOs’ statement added: “Vaccination will have a key role in the restart of international air travel and tourism.
“We strongly advocate for governments to accept accredited vaccination as a safe and appropriate reason to avoid quarantines.
“In the meantime, while we wait for the global population to be substantially vaccinated, it is important to have robust and consistent testing protocols, along with interoperable digital solutions developed to facilitate the customer journey.”
The three alliances collectively represent almost two-thirds of pre-Covid global air capacity.