The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged the Asia-Pacific region to prepare for the anticipated surge in traffic and provide policy support for the industry’s decarbonisation efforts, as the region moves forward from COVID-19.
Conrad Clifford, IATA’s Senior Vice President, and Deputy Director General, said: “The last three years have been extremely challenging for the airline industry. Asian airlines were hit hard, accounting for about a third of the industry’s losses between 2020 and this year. With the region finally emerging from COVID-19, governments have a key role to play in accelerating the recovery, and supporting the industry’s sustainable growth.”
Clifford recognised that the region’s recovery will be held back if China remains closed to international travel. “We must learn to live, travel, and work with COVID-19. We hope the Chinese government will have the confidence to re-open its borders soon and connect with the world,” he added.
IATA is also calling for more digitisation of processes to be able to handle the increase in traffic.
“Asia-Pacific governments can accelerate the recovery. There is no reason why we cannot travel as we did before the pandemic. The region also needs to prepare for the surge in traffic. The delays and congestion experienced in Europe and North America should be a stark reminder for airports and government agencies in Asia-Pacific. Now is the time to get the capacity in place, both in terms of infrastructure and manpower,” Clifford further added.
Clifford also highlighted the need to address air traffic congestion on routes between Asia and Europe, which has been increasing due to airlines reinstating their networks, coupled with diversions to avoid airspace over Afghanistan, Russia, and Ukraine.
“Over the Bay of Bengal, air navigation service providers in India and Malaysia have been working towards trials to reduce separation standards safely between aircraft to increase the airspace capacity. This is positive. We need the neighboring states to cooperate with each other, work with airlines, to implement procedures that make full use of the capabilities of modern aircraft,” Clifford concluded.
In 2021, IATA’s members committed to achieving net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. Last month, at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly, IATA adopted a Long-Term Aspirational Goal (LTAG) to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.