Linus Benjamin Bauer, founder and managing director, Bauer Aviation Advisory.
Looking at the current trending topic around the new Omicron variant, I’m not surprised that we’re stuck in another pre-Christmas bout of chaos with border closures and strict quarantine regimes again. It was just a matter of time before the game’s opponent rolled doubles to put us back to square one in the famous Ludo board game.
As long as there is no multilateral coordination and harmonisation in responding to new Covid-19 strains, the virus itself and the governments, as opponents in the board game, will remain that way for airlines, passengers and the whole economy of countries.
When it comes to the recovery of air traffic volumes and restoring of passengers’ confidence to travel, the unilateral actions done by governments across the globe to date put them back to square one in that game again and again. For aviation, it took about 20 months to build up a path to recovery. Within a period of 72 hours, the path got destroyed by some hasty actions.
The recent decision by many countries around the world to immediately ban flights from South Africa following the discovery of the variant is akin to punishing the country for its advanced genomic sequencing and thus the ability to detect new variants quicker.
Excellent science should be applauded and not punished. In addition to that, punishing a country which has been transparent and cooperative in this way is beyond inhumane and should be replaced by providing support to the country.
All those hasty actions by the governments across the globe without scientific evidence will also discourage scientists and governments – especially in developing countries where tourism is one of the major lifelines during the pandemic – to remain transparent, cooperative, and communicative with their global peers.
Through multilateral coordination and harmonisation in responding to new strains, we would be also in a better position to encourage scientists and experts to cooperate on a global scale, making air travel safer and more hassle-free for everyone someday.
Through multilateral coordination and harmonisation in responding to new strains will make air travel safer and more hassle-free for everyone someday.
On the other hand, the recent developments should also be considered as one of the wake-up calls to the developed nations across the globe to join forces in supporting developing countries with vaccination campaigns.
Because the longer it takes to vaccinate our earth, the more likely it will be that new Covid-19 strains emerge in the meantime. Otherwise, the Covid-19 virus as one of our contenders will put all of us back to square one in that game and we will need to start all over again multiple times.
Aviation, as our globally connected and dependent industry, literally can’t stand this political ball game anymore (eg. travel bans/red lists). Period. It has become crystal clear that multilateralism will play a vital role in the post Covid-19 recovery process of our beloved aviation industry.
Additionally, the harmonisation of global processes is one of the keys to rebuilding passengers’ confidence during uncertain times like today (eg. making PCR tests one of the universal and affordable requirements for vaccinated passengers). In this case, the world can learn from the United Arab Emirates’ scientific-based approach to Covid-19 once again.
Finally, access to affordable and highly accurate Covid-19 diagnostic testing is also one key to a safe restarting of travel activities between countries, including South Africa, soon. To make Covid-19 tests more affordable for travellers – especially for holidaymakers and VFR travelers – the easiest way would be to let governments axe VAT on pricey Covid-19 tests (eg. family of four or five people), to support both the people and our beloved industry during these challenging times.
Linus Benjamin Bauer, founder and managing director, Bauer Aviation Advisory
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By Linus Benjamin Bauer
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Omicron: ‘Back to square one for aviation’
It has become crystal clear that multilateralism will play a vital role in the post Covid-19 recovery process of our beloved aviation industry
Looking at the current trending topic around the new Omicron variant, I’m not surprised that we’re stuck in another pre-Christmas bout of chaos with border closures and strict quarantine regimes again. It was just a matter of time before the game’s opponent rolled doubles to put us back to square one in the famous Ludo board game.
As long as there is no multilateral coordination and harmonisation in responding to new Covid-19 strains, the virus itself and the governments, as opponents in the board game, will remain that way for airlines, passengers and the whole economy of countries.
When it comes to the recovery of air traffic volumes and restoring of passengers’ confidence to travel, the unilateral actions done by governments across the globe to date put them back to square one in that game again and again. For aviation, it took about 20 months to build up a path to recovery. Within a period of 72 hours, the path got destroyed by some hasty actions.
The recent decision by many countries around the world to immediately ban flights from South Africa following the discovery of the variant is akin to punishing the country for its advanced genomic sequencing and thus the ability to detect new variants quicker.
Excellent science should be applauded and not punished. In addition to that, punishing a country which has been transparent and cooperative in this way is beyond inhumane and should be replaced by providing support to the country.
All those hasty actions by the governments across the globe without scientific evidence will also discourage scientists and governments – especially in developing countries where tourism is one of the major lifelines during the pandemic – to remain transparent, cooperative, and communicative with their global peers.
Through multilateral coordination and harmonisation in responding to new strains, we would be also in a better position to encourage scientists and experts to cooperate on a global scale, making air travel safer and more hassle-free for everyone someday.
On the other hand, the recent developments should also be considered as one of the wake-up calls to the developed nations across the globe to join forces in supporting developing countries with vaccination campaigns.
Because the longer it takes to vaccinate our earth, the more likely it will be that new Covid-19 strains emerge in the meantime. Otherwise, the Covid-19 virus as one of our contenders will put all of us back to square one in that game and we will need to start all over again multiple times.
Aviation, as our globally connected and dependent industry, literally can’t stand this political ball game anymore (eg. travel bans/red lists). Period. It has become crystal clear that multilateralism will play a vital role in the post Covid-19 recovery process of our beloved aviation industry.
Additionally, the harmonisation of global processes is one of the keys to rebuilding passengers’ confidence during uncertain times like today (eg. making PCR tests one of the universal and affordable requirements for vaccinated passengers). In this case, the world can learn from the United Arab Emirates’ scientific-based approach to Covid-19 once again.
Finally, access to affordable and highly accurate Covid-19 diagnostic testing is also one key to a safe restarting of travel activities between countries, including South Africa, soon. To make Covid-19 tests more affordable for travellers – especially for holidaymakers and VFR travelers – the easiest way would be to let governments axe VAT on pricey Covid-19 tests (eg. family of four or five people), to support both the people and our beloved industry during these challenging times.
Linus Benjamin Bauer, founder and managing director, Bauer Aviation Advisory
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