As the Coronavirus continues to spread at an
alarming level, the Airport Services Association (ASA) and the Airline
Catering Association (ACA) highlights the devastating economic and
social impact of this crisis for the entire aviation industry.
The hundreds of thousands of men and women working in the ground handling
and airline catering industry are on the frontline of this current
pandemic. Nonetheless, they continue to work tirelessly, despite
unforeseen circumstances and difficult working conditions.
Fabio Gamba, the head of ASA and ACA, says: “The economic effects of the
coronavirus disproportionately affect the hundreds of thousands of men and
women working in this industry. We need to take a measured, common-sense
approach to this issue as many airport services worldwide continue to
operate and provide their invaluable service in this time of crisis.”
To alleviate the economic impact of the coronavirus, the aviation services
industry is calling for strong measures to prevent not only the breakdown
of air transport but also to avoid that countries come to a standstill.
For these measures to be fully effective though they must
consider the men and women providing essential services to the
airlines and airports, for without them, the sector will soon collapse.
ASA and ACA welcome the set of measures that governments are taking in
order to alleviate the hardships caused by this pandemic. But further
action must be taken and decided at an international level, not country by
country. Leading regulators and aviation industry associations must
urgently implement a strong action plan, including but not limited to the
immediate waiving of taxes and charges that currently put an undue burden
on aviation.
The industry must be supported to ensure employment in the short-term and
the viability of airport and airline services for the future, and the two
Associations stand ready to discuss which and how these measures should
be applied with the responsible authorities.
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