COVID-19 and facilitation
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, facilitation has been recognized as a key component in maintaining business continuity in aviation, stimulating the resumption of operations and ensuring an effective and sustainable recovery. The Report of the Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) includes facilitation-related recommendations pertaining to National Air Transport Facilitation Committees, public health passenger locator forms, training for the identification and management of unruly passenger situations, and testing and vaccination certificates used in travel.
In 2021, ICAO provided continuous support to States to build their capacities and ensure the appropriate implementation of facilitation measures during the pandemic. An Implementation Package (iPack) on strengthening National Air Transport Facilitation Committees was also released in Arabic, English, French and Spanish. The iPack was deployed 15 times in all ICAO regions.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a need for global interoperability for the issuance, exchange and verification of public health proofs required for international travel. To address this challenge, ICAO developed a global framework that enhances the practicability, security and ease of verification of public health proofs through the use of field-proven visible digital seal technology and the existing e-passport trust model.
Under the framework, specifications on visible digital seal for non-constrained environments (VDS-NC) and associated implementation guidance were published in May 2021. A dedicated webinar on the VDS-NC was held in July 2021, and an iPACK on VDS-NC is under development.
ICAO has been working closely with the European Union on the EU Digital COVID-19 Certificate and with the World Health Organization (WHO) on guidance related to the digital documentation of COVID-19 certificates. ICAO’s Technical Advisory Group on the Traveller Identification Programme (TAG/TRIP) together with experts from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) have been actively involved in this work and have initiated technical discussions to enhance the compatibility of technologies and promote global interoperability.
Since December 2021, work has been under way to introduce the ICAO Health Master List, which is aimed at supporting the authentication of health proofs used in travel. With the technical development phase completed, the administrative authorization for the publication of the first list is expected. The platform, which is based on a new, innovative model for service delivery, was developed in partnership with the Luxembourg State agency INCERT.
During its twelfth meeting from 13 to 22 July 2021, the Facilitation Panel reviewed the health-related aspects of Annex 9 —
Facilitation to incorporate lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and support aviation’s resilience to similar challenges in the future. The Panel proposed a number of changes to the Annex, which resulted in the proposal of Amendment 29. The Amendment includes new and revised provisions on public health emergencies, the security of travel documents and health proofs, relief and repatriation flights, and the facilitation of air transport for people with disabilities.
