The organisation, which represents 290 global carriers, will provide travellers with COVID-19 updates from 220 countries and 1,700 government sources, including immigration departments, ministries of foreign affairs, civil aviation authorities and heath ministries, it announced this week.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched an interactive map to provide updated information for travellers on COVID-19 travel regulations per country, it announced in a statement on Thursday.
The map uses data from the organisation’s Timatic database to provided timely updates on travel advice amid the ongoing pandemic. Timatic provides over 200 updates per day based on citizenship and country of residence, IATA revealed.
‘’As the aviation industry prepares to safely restart, travelers will need to know which countries’ borders are open and what health restrictions exist. Travelers can rely on Timatic for comprehensive and accurate information on travel during the pandemic,’’ IATA’s Timatic assistant director Anish Chand said in a statement.
The announcement follows a survey showing passenger concerns on resuming air travel after coronavirus, with over 80 percent stating they were as worried about possible quarantine restrictions as contracting the virus while travelling.
‘’We support the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines to harmonize the measures to keep people safe while traveling and provide the confidence to open borders without quarantine measures,” Chand added.
Timatic has also launched an alert service to provide subscribers with notifications on COVID-19 travel updates.
The news follows safety guidelines proposed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in early June aimed at restarting the aviation sector. The new measures were a “comprehensive framework of risk-based temporary measures” for air travel amid COVID-19, the organisation said at the time.
The regulations would introduce physical distancing, wearing face coverings and masks, disinfection of high-traffic areas and routine temperature screenings, among others.
To date, the global aviation industry has lost $434bn USD in revenues, with total losses of $84bn, IATA figures show.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
