【Record】Mr. Alexandre de Juniac, Director General & CEO of International Air Transport Association delivers a keynote speech

Mr. Alexandre de Juniac, Director General & CEO of International Air Transport Association (IATA), delivers a keynote speech

Mr. Alexandre de Juniac:

Good morning and greetings from Geneva. I am delighted to join you for this important meeting by video.

Before I begin, I would like to congratulate the host country of this meeting, the People's Republic of China, on the successful management of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the people of China had suffered greatly during the early days of the crisis, it is now an example of what can be achieved when the virus is brought under control and life goes back to almost normal. We started 2020 with optimism, expecting to transport 4.7 billion passengers by air. Instead, we have seen passenger demand collapse. Partly because people are afraid to travel, and partly because borders are not open. And even when borders are open, governments are imposing quarantines.

The COVID-19 crisis has had a serious impact on the travel and tourism sector across the world. If we are to rebuild a prosperous tourism sector, we will all need to work together. I see three areas to focus.

The first is to ensure passengers can fly safely. IATA and many industry partners contributed to the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) Take-off guidance to restart aviation, which will reduce the risk of transmission when traveling. The guidance was developed in record time.

The priority now is to implement the guidance. Because aviation is a network business, the implementation must be universal, while respecting local guidance. With many governments trying to re-start their economies they must act fast.

The second is to rebuild passenger confidence. It will be a big challenge. At the beginning of March, about 60% of travelers said they would return to travel within a few months of the pandemic coming under control. By early June that dropped to 45%. Communicating the measures that we have taken to keep travelers safe is key. We are doing that as IATA, and we are working across the industry to send an aligned message. And we need our tourism partners to be part of this effort. 

We need our tourism partners to be part of this effort. All efforts include addressing concerns about catching the virus on a flight. It's very important to know there're very few cases of onboard transportation. There're several reasons for that. Everyone is facing forward. The seat backs are barriers. People generally don't move around very much. Air circulates from top to bottom, not back to front. On top of that, the quality of air onboard is much better than most indoor environments. HEPA filters in modern aircraft ensure that recirculated air is similar to what you would find in a hospital operating theatre. And the air is exchanged for fresh air from outside 20-30 times an hour—about 10 times more frequently than most office buildings.

Add to that all the bio-safety measures from the Take-off guidance like mask wearing, and we have an impressive story to tell.

The third area is to address the issue of quarantine. When governments insist upon quarantine for arriving passengers, the impact is the same as closing the border. So, when governments decide that they want to re-start their economies we are proposing an alternative to quarantine.

It involves measures to keep infected people out of the travel system to reduce the risk of importing COVID-19 cases, such as health screening at the departure airport as well as testing prior to departure.

And this must be coupled with effective measures at the destination that reduce the risk of an infected traveler starting a new cluster, such as implementing ICAO's Take-off measures, contact tracing, and augmenting measures governments are taking with the specific WTTC Safe Travel Protocols across the various elements of the hospitality industry.

Together these measures are a credible alternative for governments that want to re-start their travel sector while reducing the risk of importing the virus.

As I conclude, let me share my optimism for the future. This crisis has demonstrated how much is lost when the world cannot travel. And I disagree with those who say that travel is forever changed or reduced.

For sure, business travelers will question their travel habits. And leisure travel will be impacted by economic uncertainty. As much as we are connecting through Zoom, Wechat or other technologies, it is not the same as being there in person.

Flying is freedom, and travel is freedom. That is not something people forget or lose their desire for. It will take time for the market to return. But I am convinced that our combined confidence-building efforts can make rebuild a prosperous travel and tourism sector. And I will closely follwing the development in China post COVID-19. How the travel and tourism sector recovery in China will provide insights for the recovery of world tourism. 

Moderator: Global Tourism Economy Forum serves as an international platform for deepening international exchanges and cooperation, promoting transformation of industrial chains, and supporting the sustainable development of the world tourism industry. Ms. Pansy Ho, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of Global Tourism Economy Forum (GTEF) has specifically prepared a video message for this conference.