Europe seeks to save tourism and the aviation industry from the coronavirus crisis

Governments around the world are drawing up an economic recovery plan at the height of the coronavirus pandemic to avoid further damage from the health crisis that has already left hundreds of thousands dead and millions affected, and which has hit world finances due to the global slowdown resulting from the containment and social distancing measures implemented to curb the spread of the COVID-19 disease. 

One of the sectors to be rescued is tourism, and within it the area of the aeronautical industry, currently detained due to the practically generalised prohibition of normal flight operations because of the risk of spreading the coronavirus. 

One such strategy is set out in the ESADE report 'Green-zone travelling: A pan-European strategy to save tourism', written by Miquel Oliu-Barton (Associate Professor of Mathematics, Université Paris-Dauphine) & Bary Pradelski (Associate Professor of Economics, CNRS; Associate Member, Oxford-Man Institute). A document that has been echoed by Aviación Digital, the first media in Spanish for Digital Aviation.  

The idea is simple: allowing the mobility of people between "green zones" of different European countries through a network of regions certified by European institutions, as detailed in Digital Aviation. This initiative could save the summer tourist season in southern Europe, thus mitigating the enormous economic costs that the closure to international tourism could cause for these countries.

According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), losses due to the coronavirus could be well over 900 billion dollars and put more than 100 million direct jobs at risk. 

"The world is facing an unprecedented economic and health crisis. Tourism has been hit hard, with millions of jobs at risk in one of the most labour-intensive sectors of the economy," said Zurab Pololikashvili, UNWTO Secretary General.

As Aviacion Digital explains, ESADE's proposed strategy is based on disconnecting geographical areas and banning unnecessary travel between them. This approach, which is already being observed in countries such as France and Spain, reflects ESADE's proposal for "green" zoning, labelling each region as red (virus not under control) or green (virus under control) to prevent the spread of the coronavirus throughout the territory and allow economic activity to resume at a more local level as soon as it is safe to do so, as is being implemented by Spain.  

This is precisely ESADE's proposal to take it to the level of the entire European continent; taking as an example Bavaria, one of the German Länder, and Mallorca. If both are deemed safe by a common European Union (EU) authority, they are awarded the "EU green label". It is then considered safe to travel between two of these green zones, just as it is not risky to travel between two green zones in the same country.  

ESADE's planning coincides with that of CAPSCA. Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA) is a global collaboration agreement established in 2006 between international organisations, including the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Airports Council International (ACI).

CAPSCA members have recently met and there is already talk of the concept of health or public health corridors (PHC), which will help restore operations to acceptable levels of safety. 

The key element of this strategy, as described by Catalin Radu, deputy director of ICAO's Air Navigation Bureau, is to ensure the use of "clean" concepts, to stop the spread of COVID-19 through air travel. The plan consists of implementing health measures such as disinfection, segregation standards and other relevant operational procedures. The implementation of this concept is based on a risk-centred approach, taking into account safety management principles. 

ESADE and CAPSCA's proposals may become complementary and seek the same objective, which is to recover air operations within safe parameters, preventing the spread of coronavirus and helping the sector's economic recovery.

Meanwhile, the governments of Spain, Germany, Italy and France continue to work in depth on a joint security protocol to allow these international flights during the summer without the need for reciprocal quarantine. "The Spanish who fly to Italy this summer will not have to go through the quarantine," announced the Minister of Infrastructure and Transalpine Transport, Paola De Micheli, on Monday.  

Also, the Executives of France and United Kingdom have agreed an air bridge without restrictions. Although London will be strict with citizens of other countries. 

The European Commission plans to present this Wednesday a plan to eliminate the measures of containment by the coronavirus that is currently applied in air transport while some airlines have already announced the reactivation of their flights in June.