Aviation topic: Dr Wee addressing the Changi Aviation Summit 2022 in Singapore.
PETALING JAYA: There must be consistent, simpler and predictable standard operating procedure for flights in order to ensure smooth, full recovery in the international aviation industry, says Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
“This includes allowing vaccinated individuals to travel without additional measures, avoid on-arrival testing, remove travel bans, use pre-departure antigen tests for non-vaccinated passengers, and immediately ease ongoing travel restrictions,” he said.
“At present, the slew of procedures that an individual has to go through while travelling has led to passenger processing and waiting times to increase by 100%.
“Covid-19 testing is still a common requirement for travelling to Asia. Arrival tests are still conducted at airports in some countries and the requirements for pre-departure tests differ from one country to another.
“This requirement can be confusing and certainly has added more cost and even stress for passengers,” Dr Wee said in his opening remarks during the Changi Aviation Summit in Singapore yesterday.
“As countries open up their respective borders, airports around the world should consider lifting quarantine requirements for vaccinated travellers, gradually remove testing requirements for entry, and ease visa requirements.”
At present, many airports face various operational challenges such as manpower constraints, health document checks and Covid-19 tests at airports.
“The absence of staff due to Covid-19 infections has hampered the operation of airlines and airports that are already struggling with recruitment after workers deserted the industry during the pandemic,” he said, adding that recovery in aviation is slowly picking up around the world as many countries have begun easing travel restrictions.
“Countries that persist in attempting to lock-out the disease, risk missing out on the enormous economic and societal benefits that restoration of international connectivity will bring.
“Some key elements that affect and slow down the recovery rate include quarantine requirements, testing requirements and visa/entry permit requirements,” he said.
Dr Wee added that Malaysia is projecting a year-on-year (YoY) increase of between 197% and 347% this year, representing between 32.6 million and 40 million air travel passengers, even as the International Air Transport Authority has forecasted international air travel to recover to pre-Covid-19 levels by 2023.
“This marks a 30% to 45% recovery from the pre-pandemic traffic levels in 2019.
“Air cargo traffic for 2022 is forecasted to grow between 3.9% and 6.7% YoY, which translates into 21.5 billion to 22 billion freight tonne-kilometres (FTK), underpinned by the progress of the vaccination programme, strong growth of e-commerce, as well as increased activities in international trade (import and exports).
“Malaysia pledges to actively continue our mission of enhancing our aviation ecosystem and develop a sustainable, resilient and innovative aviation sector to revive the aviation industry and rebuild connections,” he said.
In a panel discussion later, Dr Wee said as of March 29, there were only 7,923 passengers (less than 7%) who tested positive for Covid-19, out of the 115,646 passengers who arrived in Malaysia using the Vaccinated Travel Lane.
“These statistics were vital in guiding the government’s decision to reopen Malaysia’s borders and further helped build confidence and support for Malaysia’s reopening to all international travellers on April 1,” he said.
