Countries have not yet agreed on how to safely resume travel amid the coronavirus crisis, and the global economy will cost millions of dollars, according to the chief executive of Dubai Airports.
“We don’t have an agreed testing process for reliable, accurate and scalable testing, and it needs to happen,” Paul Griffith told CNBC’s Headley Gambling on Monday.
“Second, there is no synergy between the need for control measures and the need for a quarantine regime that is both effective and non-invasive.” Dubai Airports has Dubai International and Dubai World Central Airports in the United Arab Emirates.
Coronavirus outbreaks have plagued the aviation industry as countries have closed their borders to slow the spread of the virus.
Some markets have since reopened, but with different measures in place.
Griffith said the integration of three things – testing, travel protocol and quarantine – is “the next step in enabling the world to move again.”
“At the moment the big problem is globally, governments are focusing on eliminating the risk,” he said. “My opinion is, we’ll never go there.”
Instead, he added, countries should manage risk and provide security to the global economy and start over.
A passenger walks to Terminal 3 at Dubai Airport in the United Arab Emirates on July 8, 2020.
Giuseppe Cakes | AFP | Getty Images
Griffith said governments have not focused on the economic and social benefits of managing the virus in a practical way. “This needs to change, if we are to go back to some form of normal life, which we are all desperate to achieve.”
Asked about the cost if the global economy were to be put to travel length, he said: “I think we’re already running into millions of dollars.”
On the other hand, global price comparisons are “only small” compared to improving the situation, he added.
“If we could bring together a group of like-minded people to integrate those three simple steps of proper compatibility quarantine, testing and travel protocols and agree on what their standards are … you’re talking about a fraction of the damage to the economy. Globally,” Griffith said.
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