Trials to improve public health safety for aviation staff begin

Singapore and the UK have begun a series of trials to test the crew module of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council Aviation Recovery Taskforce (CART) Take-off guidelines. These guidelines aim to reduce public health risk to airport staff, air passengers and air crew whilst strengthening passenger confidence.

ICAO, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, Changi Airport, Heathrow Airport, British Airways and Singapore Airlines are participating in these trials.

The trials will test measures throughout the journey between Singapore and the UK. The measures include maintaining safe distancing, meeting all relevant customs, immigration and health requirements, observing good hand hygiene and reduced interactions with passengers.

The measures are based on the ICAO CART guidelines, customised to each State’s requirements and integrated into the regional implementation planning in support of the ‘Public Health Corridors’ now being launched by ICAO.

Kevin Shum, Director-General of the CAAS, said: “The ICAO CART “Take-off” guidance document offers a set of guidelines for coordinating the international aviation community’s steps towards recovery and to build up public confidence for international travel. These guidelines take a flexible and pragmatic approach by focusing on what makes operational and economic sense, bearing in mind that different countries would face different conditions, risks and risk tolerance. The trials will help validate and improve the processes, where needed.”

Data will be collected by the participating parties for all phases of the journey and then analysed and reviewed by the three partners to strengthen the guidelines where necessary.

Dr. Fang Liu, ICAO Secretary General, emphasised: “The CART’s work and deliverables have been developed in league with the ICAO Council Member States, our colleagues at the WHO, many other international organisations, and our partners in the aviation industry. They’ve been designed to enable Member States and industry to implement harmonised risk mitigation measures in full accordance with the latest medical and traveller health advice available. We want to thank the aviation authorities in Singapore and the United Kingdom for their support and involvement in this trial and their continuous contributions to ICAO.”