IATA has called for the EU’s Digital Covid Certificate (DCC) to become the global standard for proof of vaccination status, the day after the tourism industry warned that issues over the recognition of different vaccine types could stymie the international travel recovery. Commending the EU’s speedy introduction of the DCC earlier this year, airline association IATA suggests it meets several of the key criteria required for a global standard, citing its flexible format, use of QR codes and strong verification and authentication systems. “The DCC was delivered in record time to help facilitate the reopening of EU states to travel,” says IATA deputy DG Conrad Clifford on 26 August. “In the absence of a single global standard for digital vaccine certificates, it should serve as a blueprint for other nations looking to implement digital vaccination certificates to help facilitate travel and its associated economic benefits.” But even if global standards of certification were to exist, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) says it is growing “increasingly concerned” that barriers to travel would persist based on what vaccine type an individual has received. On 25 August, it therefore called for the US government to “urgently speed up approval of the UK’s AstraZeneca vaccine”.<br/>
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Medical supplies will run out within days in Afghanistan, the WHO said Friday, announcing that it hopes to establish an air bridge into the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif by then with the help of Pakistani authorities. Trauma kits and emergency supplies for hospitals, as well as medicines for treating chronic malnutrition in children are among priority items for Afghanistan, where 18 million people depend on aid, the WHO's regional emergency director said. "What remains certain is that humanitarian needs are enormous and growing," Rick Brennan said. "Right now because of security concerns and several other operational considerations, Kabul airport is not going to be an option for the next week at least," he said. "One of the problems we have in Afghanistan right now is there is no civil aviation authority functioning, but we are working with Pakistan particularly in the context of Mazar-i-Sharif airport. Because they can work with contacts on the ground so that all the necessary steps to land an aircraft, to land a cargo aircraft, can be put in place," Brennan said. Pakistan International Airlines will provide air transport for the operation, while WHO will arrange logistics on the ground, WHO spokesperson Inas Hamam said. <br/>
Repairs need to be made at Kabul airport before it can be opened to civilian flights, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday, as Ankara considers providing help to the Taliban to operate the airport. Ankara has been in talks with the Taliban about providing technical help to operate Kabul airport after the Aug. 31 deadline for troops to leave Afghanistan but said the recent bombing underlined the need for a Turkish force to protect any experts deployed there. Cavusoglu said on Sunday that inspection reports show runways, towers and terminals, including those in the civilian side of the airport, were damaged and that these needed to be repaired. “Personnel is needed for this. Likewise, the required equipment needs to be provided,” he said. Turkey, which is part of the NATO mission, has been responsible for security at the airport for the last six years. Keeping the airport open after foreign forces hand over control is vital not just for Afghanistan to stay connected to the world but also to maintain aid supplies and operations. Speaking at a news conference with his German counterpart, Cavusoglu said the airport initially needs to be operated to help send humanitarian aid into the country and continue evacuations.<br/>
Hurricane Ida barreled into the Louisiana coast on Sunday, packing winds more powerful than Hurricane Katrina and a “catastrophic” storm surge that left New Orleans without power and facing mass flooding and destruction. The storm roared ashore as a Category 4 hurricane at 11:55 a.m. local time near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, with top winds of 150 miles (240 kilometers) per hour, the National Hurricane Center said. It was reduced to Category 3 as it moved inland, though it was forecast to remain a hurricane throughout the night. Ida, so sprawling that its tropical-force winds extend 140 miles, will be a bruising test for the region’s levees and infrastructure rebuilt after Katrina. It arrives on the heels of a UN scientific report warning that weather will only grow more extreme as global warming intensifies. As of Sunday, 537 flights had been canceled in New Orleans, Dallas, and Houston through Monday, according to FlightAware, an airline tracking service. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was thronged with local residents lining up for outbound flights or trying to rent vehicles to flee the city. Queues at rental car kiosks were hours long.<br/>
The Mauka Concourse at the Daniel K Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii has officially opened. Hawaii Department of Transportation in the US has dedicated the concourse prior to its opening. Built with an investment of $270m, the new concourse extension will add 230,000ft² of additional space to the existing 600,000ft² of Terminal 1. Governor of the State of Hawaii David Y Ige said: “As we continue to face the challenges of the pandemic, we are pleased to open the Mauka Concourse to improve efficiency at HNL. The extension of Terminal 1 will provide significant crowd relief during the mid-day peak period and allow our air transportation system to meet the needs of our residents and visitors safely and smoothly.”<br/>
European safety regulators have extended the approval for passenger aircraft to serve as temporary freighters until at least the end of July next year. Several carriers opted to modify cabin interiors to transport cargo to enable passenger aircraft, which would otherwise have been parked, to continue earning revenues during the depths of the pandemic crisis. The EASA permitted the temporary modifications as long as the exposure to risk of a catastrophic cargo fire was mitigated by operational limitations. This risk calculation was based on conservative assumptions of the number of aircraft likely to be converted and the forecast number of annual flight hours for such aircraft, plus the probability of a fire breaking out on board.<br/>
Thailand will allow some domestic flights to and from Bangkok and other high risk areas for COVID-19 to resume from Sept. 1, the country’s aviation authority said Sunday, to help boost economic activity. The announcement follows the easing of tough restrictions in 29 high-risk provinces from next month, including allowing more provincial travel and the reopening of shopping malls, as the government tries to revive a struggling economy here hit by the outbreak. Local fights can fly at up to 75% capacity and passengers will have to follow travel conditions at destinations such as presenting proof of vaccinations and COVID-19 testing results, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) said. Flights related to areas under a tourism reopening scheme will also be allowed, it said. Airlines, including Asia Aviation and Bangkok Airways, have announced the resumption of some local flights from next week.<br/>
Malaysia’s air passenger traffic is expected to contract by 77-80% year-on-year, versus 23-29% predicted in April, before the country entered a three-month-long nationwide lockdown in June. This translates to 5.3-6.1m passengers this year, the Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) says in the latest edition of an industry outlook report published on 26 August, versus 19-21 million passengers in the previous forecast. The latest forecast takes into consideration “a lower load factor and a longer period of seat capacity recovery by airlines”. MAVCOM also details two alternative projections, with 6.9-7.8m passengers in the best-case scenario and 4.2-4.8m passengers in the worst-case scenario. The commission anticipates an increase in domestic, short-haul travel, as movement restrictions are relaxed for fully vaccinated people. Air cargo traffic is also expected grow 27-28% in 2021 and recover to pre-crisis levels. MAVCOM executive chairman Saripuddin Kasim states: “The aviation industry continues to be the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. While future trends indicate potential increase in domestic travel as the nation moves closer to reaching herd immunity and travel restrictions are relaxed for fully vaccinated passengers, the recovery rate of the sector remains uncertain.”<br/>
Papua New Guinea has banned flights from India and barred both Garuda Indonesia and Hong-Kong-based charter specialist CapaJet from entering its airspace until further notice, in response to an incoming repatriation flight that allegedly breached pandemic-related travel rules, the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary announced on August 24. Police Commissioner David Manning, also the Melanesian country’s top Covid-19 official, expressed “anger and disappointment at the way in which India’s High Commission in Port Moresby deliberately participated in the deception that resulted in unauthorised passengers, including four infected with Covid-19, arriving in Papua New Guinea.” He warned that “the charter company and the airline, as well as any middle-men, will now face the consequences for their actions.” Story has details.<br/>