Source: ICAO International aviation plays a key role in human affairs.  It lets us discover our world’s wondrous geographic and cultural diversity. It enables us to learn about and benefit from each other. And it connects societies through global travel and trade, advancing access to food, education and healthcare.  These benefits are critical to every country’s attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. This year’s observance of International Civil Aviation Day falls as COVID-19 has severed international connections by air, cutting off businesses from clients, keeping tourists from destinations, and disproportionately affecting the vulnerable.  It has also disrupted the operations and finances of airlines and airports worldwide, threatening their capability to assure the global supply of medicines, vaccines, humanitarian aid and [...]

Source: ICAO At a virtual open briefing convened yesterday by the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu underscored the key developments as the two organizations, ICAO and the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), have been working to cooperate more effectively on mitigating terrorist threats to international civil aviation. “2020 has confronted ICAO with the worst global crisis in the history of international aviation”, Dr. Liu noted in her introduction, “and we have been responding quickly and effectively to ensure vital air operations, while bearing in mind the lasting threats of terrorism and making steady progress in aviation security and facilitation. The key recommendation of the ICAO Council’s Aviation Recovery Task [...]

Source: ICAO While delivering opening remarks to this year’s ‘Routes Reconnected’ virtual industry event focused on sectoral recovery, ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu underscored how the UN agency has been continuously stressing the pandemic’s threats to the basic sustainability of international flight, keeping related concerns “at the forefront of government and UN system consideration.”   “We know that airlines are still facing dramatically reduced flights and load factors, and that a resurgence of COVID-19 is now taking place across much of the northern hemisphere,” she said. “We know airlines cannot service routes, and keep the world connected, by managing flights without the passengers who make them financially viable. And with our ICAO forecasts now estimating a 60% reduction in [...]

Source: ICAO Efforts to offset emissions from international flights have been kept on track during the current 221st Session of the ICAO Council, with new decisions being adopted by the 36-country body on eligibility units and sustainability certification schemes supporting the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). The latest Council endorsements mean that all implementation elements for CORSIA are now complete, and that everything is prepared for the start of its pilot phase in 2021. Details around these latest decisions are available here. ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano remarked on the welcomed developments that “ICAO set out a vision for carbon-neutral growth in international aviation, and this week we have seen that vision bear fruit. The Council’s [...]

Source: IATA   The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched the Aviation Carbon Exchange (ACE), an important new tool to help airlines meet their climate commitments. ACE is the first centralized, real-time marketplace that is integrated with the IATA Clearing House (ICH) for the settlement of funds on trades in carbon offsets. IATA's Clearing House ensures that ACE can offer a seamless and secure settlement system which guarantees payment and delivery of the carbon credits. JetBlue Airways is the first airline that made the historic transaction in the ACE platform. "Airlines are serious in their commitment to reduce emissions. And they need a reliable tool to access quality carbon credits in real time. ACE will be a key tool [...]

Source: IATA   The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data revealing that the COVID-19 crisis has had a devastating impact on international connectivity, shaking up the rankings of the world's most connected cities. London, the world's number one most connected city in September 2019, has seen a 67% decline in connectivity. By September 2020, it had fallen to number eight. Shanghai is now the top ranked city for connectivity with the top four most connected cities all in China—Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu. New York (-66% fall in connectivity), Tokyo (-65%), Bangkok (-81%), Hong Kong (-81%) and Seoul (-69%) have all exited the top ten. The study reveals that cities with large numbers of domestic connections now dominate, showing [...]

Source: IATA   The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced a revised outlook for airline industry performance in 2020 and 2021. Deep industry losses will continue into 2021, even though performance is expected to improve over the period of the forecast. A net loss of $118.5 billion is expected for 2020 (deeper than the $84.3 billion forecast in June). A net loss of $38.7 billion is expected in 2021 (deeper than the $15.8 billion forecast in June). Performance factors in 2021 will show improvements on 2020; and the second half of 2021 is expected to see improvements after a difficult 2021 first half. Aggressive cost-cutting is expected to combine with increased demand during 2021 (due to the re-opening of borders [...]

Source: ICAO Speaking to the leadership of the global airline and European aviation sectors today, ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano stressed the importance of placing solidarity, innovation, and sustainability at the heart of States’ and operators’ recovery plans.   His remarks were delivered by videoconferencing to the 76th Annual General Meeting of IATA and the AeroDays2020 Berlin Aviation Summit.   “There is an onus upon us to have the vision to look beyond this downturn and maximize the opportunities afforded by it,” the President said. “We must learn the lessons this disease is teaching us, and make our global network more resilient to future pandemic threats.”   On the topic of sectoral solidarity, President Sciacchitano drew attention to the many [...]

Source: IATA   The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that it is in the final development phase of the IATA Travel Pass, a digital health pass that will support the safe reopening of borders. Governments are beginning to use testing as a means of limiting the risks of COVID-19 importation when re-opening their borders to travelers without quarantine measures. IATA Travel Pass will manage and verify the secure flow of necessary testing or vaccine information among governments, airlines, laboratories and travelers. IATA is calling for systematic COVID-19 testing of all international travelers and the information flow infrastructure needed to enable this must support: Governments with the means to verify the authenticity of tests and the identity of those presenting [...]