The letter, signed by the CEOs of the four companies, was sent on Tuesday to the Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence, to the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, to all EU member states and to the United Kingdom.
He cited the “unquestionable importance of transatlantic travel to the global economy” and said a coordinated trial program was “key to providing confidence to allow services to resume without quarantine requirements or other entry restrictions,” according to a copy of the letter shared with CNN Business.
“Covid-19 testing is becoming increasingly common around the world as a tool to avoid these other, more intrusive measures,” the letter says. “No one will benefit from a prolonged closure of this corridor so indispensable to global aviation.”
Airlines hope that by pressing for a stronger test regime, they can find a way to restore a major travel corridor even as Covid-19 cases increase in parts of the United States.
The aviation industry is facing the worst crisis in its history. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that the global airline industry will lose $ 84 billion in 2020 and an additional $ 15 billion in 2021, dwarfing the damage caused by the global financial crisis.
London Heathrow Airport, which managed 18.8 million passengers traveling to or from North America In 2019, it has asked the UK government to take the lead in developing an international testing standard. You are testing passenger swab tests. Several airlines and airports are also testing trial regimes.
Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye told CNN Last week, a common international standard for testing is “very logical” and “on-arrival testing as an alternative to quarantine is something that will get the market moving again.”
IATA has recommended testing prior to arrival at the departure airport to limit crowds and possible infection while traveling.
“Airline leaders consider the Covid-19 tests to be one of the few strategic options that have the ability to reduce further damage to the already suffering global air travel sector,” said Alex Macheras, an independent aviation analyst. . “Ideally, the tests would be completed quickly and reliably before departure. The goal is for an airline to be able to declare a flight ‘sterile’ or ‘Covid free,'” he told CNN Business.
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