Suggested COVID-19 aviation measures outlined in ICAO’s state letter

ICAO has issued a new state letter that draws the attention of national governments to new measures aimed at ensuring safe aviation operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to a contingency coordination website that ICAO will establish through 31 March 2021. The letter was issued by ICAO’s Secretary General, Dr. Fang Liu, and comes as global aviation service providers and personnel are facing challenges in terms of maintaining the validity of their certifications, licenses and other types of official operating approvals. Many of the related challenges are resulting directly from social distancing guidelines, current business closures and other public health measures. Liu noted: “There are approximately 650,000 licensed personnel supporting commercial air transport worldwide. If a fraction of those personnel is affected by the pandemic measures, the potential for the disruption may be significant. In order to facilitate safe operations during these difficult times, I encourage states to be flexible in their approaches while, at the same time, adhering to their obligations under the Convention on International Civil Aviation.”<br/>