Qatar boss pours cold water on hopes for rapid aviation recovery

The CE of Qatar Airways has poured cold water on hopes for a rapid recovery in aviation and warned of a need for more co-operation in creating vaccine passports to save the industry. “I think the aviation recovery will not happen for quite a long period of time . . . I don’t see that the worst is over yet,” Akbar Al Baker said. The Qatari executive struck a more pessimistic tone than the bosses of many big European and American airlines, who predict a rebound in flying in the coming months. US airline bosses have said the worst impact of the crisis had passed, while in Europe there are hopes for a revival in travel once border restrictions ease. But Al Baker believes vaccines are only a “stopgap” solution because it is still not known how long they offer protection against Covid-19. The UK could end up with fourth, fifth or sixth waves of cases after it opens up its borders to international travel, he warned. Al Baker urged countries and bodies such as the World Health Organization to work more closely to develop vaccine passports. “Every country is producing their own apps, their own protocols, and this will, at the end, not work,” he said. Several digital health passes are being developed, including airline group Iata’s travel pass, which Qatar Airways is involved with. The apps allow passengers to show proof of a vaccination or a negative test when they travel, but no agreement has been reached on a global set of standards for the technology. “These travel passports are only as good as the system you will implement in it. If each country has a different protocol, each country has a different system, each country has a different requirement, it confuses passengers, and it will confuse the airlines,” he said.<br/>