IATA says it supports Canada’s measures to help Canada navigate the coronavirus pandemic but is equally eager to ensure that the government has a plan to eventually reconnect with the world.

In a statement released last week, the International Air Transport Association said it “recognizes that the immediate focus of the Government of Canada is limiting the spread of COVID-19. This includes extraordinary measures aimed at stopping all but essential travel, along with strict testing and quarantine protocols, to eliminate the importation of new COIVD-19 variants.”

But the association added, “These policy actions to restrict the freedom of movement are taking a severe toll on people, businesses, and the economy. To limit these effects, it is critical that the Government of Canada is prepared to progressively reconnect the country to the world when objective criteria give the decision-makers the confidence that the epidemiological situation can safely permit this.”

To help the process, IATA urges collaborative dialogue between the airline industry and government in several key areas:

• Efficiently implementing policy measures, including global guidance of expert organizations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization

• Understanding and monitoring the benchmarks that the government is setting to eventually resume connectivity, and

• Ensuring that measures can be implemented in the international context with minimal inconvenience to travellers.

“We are eager to support the leadership of the Honorable Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport for Canada,” said IATA Sr. VP. for Airport, Passenger, Cargo & Security, Nick Careen. “This means implementing the measures needed to safely manage through the pandemic. But we must also ensure that there is a plan in place to energize the eventual recovery by restoring the freedom of movement and reconnecting the people and businesses of Canada, both internally and with the world.”

IATA made a similar plea to Britain’s government ahead of its plans to outline its economic recovery objectives.

“We recognize that the government has a difficult balancing act between unlocking the economy and safeguarding public health. We are not demanding a date for border restrictions to be lifted, but Prime Minister Johnson must set out a vision for how international travel can and will be restarted as the pandemic ends,” said Rafael Schvartzman, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Europe.

“That vision,” he added, “would include explaining how a phased reduction of restrictions would work, and the levels to which infections or hospitalizations would need to fall to trigger those reductions. With this science-based approach locked in, the industry and the public will have the certainty to plan for take-off.”