Airports Council International (ACI) World has welcomed the support of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for the newly launched Airport Health Accreditation programme.
As airports begin to restart operations, the Airport Health Accreditation programme assists them in focusing on the health and welfare of travellers, staff, and the public. ICAO has today provided its support to the programme which was launched last week and has already gathered interest from airports from all regions around the world.
Airports are introducing new health measures and procedures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and ACI’s new programme provides an assessment of these measures in accordance with ICAO Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) recommendations and in alignment with the joint EASA and ECDC Aviation Health Safety Protocol and ACI EUROPE’s Guidelines for a Healthy Passenger Experience at Airports.
“Air travel is a key driver for a global economic recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and ICAO’s support for our accreditation programme will provide immeasurable assistance in promoting the harmonization of health measures being introduced around the world to facilitate the restart of aviation,” ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira said.
“Our new programme enables airports to demonstrate to passengers, staff, regulators, and governments that they are prioritizing health and safety in a measurable, established manner while also validating their own measures and processes. Consistency will be the key to a sustained recovery and the ICAO guidelines lay the framework for a globally-coordinated approach which will foster public confidence in aviation.”
ICAO Council President Mr. Salvatore Sciacchitano said: “A harmonized approach to health is key not only to the recovery of civil aviation but also to ‘building back better,’ which is crucially important to ensuring the future resilience of the aviation network.
ACI’s Airport Health Accreditation programme will be of importance in terms of providing a platform and momentum for the implementation of the ICAO Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) recommendations, of which harmonization and resilience are the guiding principles.”
ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu said: “To support the implementation of the CART recommendations and guidance, ICAO is making use of all available resources, through the coordination framework of the Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA) and enhanced cooperation with the industry, facilitating implementation of Public Health Corridors to ensure continued flight operations with minimal restrictions, prevent the spread of COVID-19 through air travel, protect the health and safety of crew and passengers and strengthen passenger confidence in air travel. ACI’s Airport Health Accreditation programme will support these efforts.”
The Airport Health Accreditation programme covers topics such as cleaning and disinfection, physical distancing (where feasible and practical), staff protection, physical layout, passenger communications and passenger facilities across all passenger areas and processes. The programme is voluntary and open to all ACI member airports of all sizes in all regions.
ACI World announced last week that Istanbul Airport was the first airport in the world to be accredited through the programme.
