ICAO announces new resource package to support creation of COVID-19 travel corridors

To assist countries who are seeking to establish public health travel corridors during their COVID-19 recovery phases, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has released a new implementation package (iPack) on ‘Establishing a Public Health Corridor’ (PHC).

Composed of guidance material, support personnel, training and other resources, the new travel corridor iPack is fully aligned with the latest recommendations issued by the ICAO Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) and with the guidance developed jointly by ICAO, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other contributors in the United Nations (UN) aviation agency’s new ‘Manual on Testing and Cross-border Risk Management Measures’ (Doc 10152).

“This initiative has greatly benefitted from the continuous feedback which we’ve been receiving from our Member States through our COVID-19 monitoring and coordination platforms and other feedback mechanisms,” explained ICAO’s Secretary General, Dr. Fang Liu. “It expands on the guidance already developed by ICAO in this area, and provides access to training courses, a practical hands-on workshop updated regularly with the latest scientific evidence and a dedicated subject matter expert to consult on the participating countries’ planning and progress.”

Implemented through its Technical Cooperation Bureau and supported by several donor States and organisations, ICAO’s COVID-19 iPacks have served as key global pandemic resources during countries’ air transport recovery efforts in areas such as safety risk management, facilitation, aviation security and airport re-openings.

“National authorities taking advantage of the new PHC iPack will gain access to the latest PHC best practices already identified by other countries, including on the design and conduct of effective gap analyses against the latest guidance issued by ICAO, CART and the Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA),” emphasised the President of the ICAO Council, Salvatore Sciacchitano.

President Sciacchitano further stressed that “the iPack will also aid countries’ efforts to determine a multi-layer pandemic risk management strategy in accordance with current mutual recognition and global harmonisation objectives, and to keep their PHC planning, approaches and outcomes continuously updated.”