Narrative of ’embarrassing’ is driving public away from flying, says Aer Lingus boss

A NARRATIVE OF “embarrassing” people who have flown during Covid-19 is driving the public away from travel, suggested the director of Aer Lingus.

Aer Lingus Acting Chief Executive Officer Donal Moriarty has said that the aviation industry has been affected by the negative connotations associated with flights during the pandemic.

Speaking about Brendan O’Connor on RTÉ Radio One, Moriarty said there has been a “degree of toxicity and flight embarrassment and we really have to move on.”

“If you look at the importance of international travel to the Irish economy, I think we need to move away from that mindset and take a position where we are actually promoting international travel as critical to our economy,” Moriarty said.

“I think it’s the narrative that has made people feel insecure, the narrative that has emerged at the policy level,” he said.

Moriarty referenced the guidance published by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on air travel and Covid-19 to suggest that the risk of travel is not as high as some believed.

The ECDC guidance reported that a modeling study “estimates that imported Covid-19 cases, using May 2019 travel volumes, would have represented less than 1% of total cases in 48 countries and less than 10% in 142 countries around the world in May 2020 ″.

Currently, people traveling to Ireland from abroad must complete a Covid-19 passenger locator form.

Moriarty suggested that arrivals should be asked to download the Track and Trace app when they enter the country.

He said a “much more effective regimen” than the existing one would be to implement rapid antigen testing prior to arrival along with mandatory use of the Track and Trace app for international travelers after arrival.

“I don’t think Aer Lingus directly provides [antigen tests] but we would identify providers of that service. I think Dublin Airport would switch directly to antigen testing as standard if it was approved as standard, so that those providers are ready to go to market and ready to provide that service. “

Moriarty said two million refund or coupon requests were made to Aer Lingus due to travel disruptions since the onset of the pandemic.

Of those, about 90% have been processed, Moriarty said, and several thousand customers are still waiting to receive a refund or voucher.

Ireland is currently operating within the EU traffic light system for international travel which classifies countries as green, orange or red based on the country’s Covid-19 incidence rate.

People arriving in Ireland from other countries, except from Green Regions or Northern Ireland, must restrict their movements for 14 days.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said in November that the government was asking people not to travel home for Christmas, but that if they believed it was necessary, they should “follow the rules.”

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan described the decision to travel as a “judgment call.”

“It is a judgment call and it is the person who is in the best position to judge that, I think each person’s family circumstances are different, I don’t think we can define that,” Ryan said.