Air transport facilitation policy and related guidance
The Twelfth Meeting of the Facilitation Panel (FALP/12), held virtually from 13 to 22 July 2021, resulted in recommendations for new and revised health-related Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) for inclusion in Annex 9 ―
Facilitation. At its meeting, the Panel focused on the review of such recommendations, which had been proposed by the Air Transport Committee’s Task Force on Health Issues Outbreaks in Aviation (TF-HIOA), and agreed on developing a new Chapter 10 in Annex 9 to combine the new and revised health-related SARPs and move certain health-related SARPs from other chapters. The Panel also agreed on establishing a new working group on Annex 9 to assist the Panel and Secretariat in reviewing Annex 9, contribute to its effectiveness and carry out other tasks.
After being reviewed by the Air Transport Committee, the proposed new and revised health-related SARPs were circulated to Member States and relevant international organizations for comments during the 224th Session of the Council.
A course on Annex 9 was developed to respond to the pressing need among Member States to obtain training based on Annex 9 SARPs and specifications. Since facilitation involves many stakeholders at the national and international levels, most stakeholders do not receive facilitation-related training, which often results in difficulties in coordinating measures. Therefore, there is a significant and continuing need for training among both existing and newly recruited staff. The course is available in a virtual and classroom format in English, Arabic, French and Spanish.
