LONDON, 22 October 2020: Opening the door to allow airport testing on departure is an encouraging sign according to World Travel & Tourism Council president and CEO Gloria Guevara.
“We have been calling for rapid and cost-effective testing on departure at airports around the world for several months now, so this is a step in the right direction, she says in a WTTC media statement released Wednesday.
“The Latest WTTC research shows the positive effect airport testing will have to revive international air travel, bring back jobs and revitalize the global economy. Almost 20 million jobs across Europe could be saved, including three million in Germany, 1.93 million in the UK, 1.91 million in Italy and more than 1.5 million in France,” she claims.
Schemes are now underway at Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports in Paris, Heathrow in London following recent trials that took place between Rome’s Fiumicino Airport and Milan Linate.
WTTC says it hopes successful airport testing prior to departure will “inspire other countries to follow their lead and implement similar initiatives.”
But WTTC highlights the urgency of having a standardised international testing protocol that is crucial to restore seamless travel and remove ineffective and costly quarantine regimes.
“Removing or significantly reducing quarantine times, already introduced by some countries, could restore vital international business travel, first on short-haul flights and then between important financial hubs, such as Frankfurt, London and New York and other key transatlantic services,” says the WTTC CEO.
“With the commercial aviation sector hanging in the balance, it is more important than ever that we explore every practical avenue to speed up airport testing through targeted pilots.”
