Free space

Bay Bay London

Faisal Muhammad Al-Shammari

November 21, 2020

The United Kingdom’s announcement that travelers from the UAE will not be quarantined came as a lifeline for the British tourism industry, as well as a refreshment dose for the travel industry, which prompts us to support the International Airports Council and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) call for universalization and global unification. The approach of conducting Corona examinations before travel for international travelers as an alternative to quarantine measures.

Everyone knows that travel restrictions imposed by the pandemic have disrupted the global air transport sector, and the catastrophic effects were not only limited to endangering or eliminating 4.8 million jobs.

Cooperation between countries to remove quarantine restrictions, coordinate and harmonize precautionary measures, circulate and explain them clearly to travelers, will support the resumption of air traffic and restore the normal status of an industry that directly and indirectly affects the world’s economies and society. Again, to reopen the borders without quarantine.

The unified and continuous endeavors will ensure the achievement of safety and health standards for travelers, all workers and their families.

And what the Airports Council International and the International Air Transport Association have called for is the importance of focusing on applying an organized and internationally recognized approach to the checks that are carried out for travelers before travel, provided that they are fast, practical, accurate, low-cost, easy to use, and are supported by the relevant health authorities;

Very important, to be complemented by efforts to reduce the gap in these basic services, to prevent the emergence of new hotspots and waves.

The agreement of airlines, airports and aviation authorities to follow a consistent methodology for conducting checks for travelers, which will help restore travelers' confidence in air transport, avoid countries closing their borders, as well as get rid of quarantine measures that have hindered the relentless efforts to achieve recovery.

This approach will achieve the optimal recovery for the travel and tourism industry, not only for the aviation system, but also for airports, airlines, and the travel and tourism sectors, which will contribute to protecting jobs and providing the economic and social benefits that aviation provides to local, national and global communities.

It may achieve a return to employment for this vital economic sector, instead of what we hear on a daily basis in terms of dispensing, declaring bankruptcy, requesting debt rescheduling, and thus returning liquidity to the economies of countries and society.

We emphasize that conducting organized checks before travel is vital, restructuring travel priorities and requirements, as it is one of the most important preventive measures that will contribute to the restoration of world air connectivity, which in turn will enhance the availability of millions of jobs that depend on the air transport sector, and will also contribute to supporting security Bio-states.

We also do not forget that there are millions of travelers who wish to return to the airspace to meet their families again, or obtain a vacation or support their business needs. Therefore, coexistence and adaptation to this disease, especially with the promising news of developing effective vaccines, reinforces the guarantee of the safe return of freedom to travel. Which can be achieved by following the necessary precautionary measures.

Also, our possession of effective and reliable technologies for conducting tests, thermal cameras and advanced services to monitor any hotspots of disease and smart applications enhanced to monitor the health status of travelers, in order to monitor any potential infection, can be integrated into all stages of travel, which requires harmonization and unification of the efforts of governments, and agreement To implement a plan that enables the return of the function of the air transport sector, which is to restore human contact and freedom of movement for people and economies, one another.

We must take accelerated steps with precision and surgical speed, as the delay every day or hour results in endangering more jobs and the economies of countries, and the step taken by the United Kingdom and the UAE indicates awareness of the importance of this and the need to imitate and reproduce.

In addition to that, we quote the comedian Hussein Abdel-Reda, may God have mercy on him, “Bye Bye London”.

- A non-resident internal administrative advisor at the Emirates Knowledge and Consulting Center at the Mohammed bin Rashid College of Governmental Administration

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