Airlines
ICAO Stops Short of Branding Testing a Panacea for Airlines
Airline groups expressed encouragement over language in the UN aviation body’s manual for testing and cross-border risk management.
Photo: Andrew Donovan
Photo: Andrew Donovan

Despite recent positive news about the development and imminent start of distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, global airline lobbyists continue to stress the importance of a speedy implementation of a harmonized testing protocol as a means to lift national quarantine requirements. However, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) cannot mandate states to adopt identical procedures but only encourage the application of risk assessment to decide what mitigation measures to take. In fact, ICAO’s recently published Testing and Cross-border Risk Management Mitigation Manual makes clear that each country will need to adapt testing protocols based on their individual circumstances and gives guidance on when quarantines might remain appropriate.