AirAsia calls for standardised protocols to kickstart air travel revival
Published on: Saturday, March 06, 2021
By: The Sun Daily
.jpg "AirAsia calls for standardised protocols to kickstart air travel revival")
PETALING JAYA: AirAsia is calling for a standardised approach to travel protocols to help kickstart international air travel revival, as domestic air travel looks set to return to pre-Covid levels in the near future, in the wake of a global vaccination rollout.Group president, airlines, Bo Lingam (pic) said in order to resume cross-border travel activity effectively and safely, a mutually agreed global framework approach is needed, as travel requirements in the region are currently complex and uncoordinated and travel bubbles are limited and underutilised.
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“The travel and tourism industry must work together with one consistent set of protocols and procedures for guests, such as testing and vaccination requirements, coupled with a mutually agreed common digital health pass and with the expansion of travel bubbles to include the leisure sector.
“Resuming air travel is a collective effort. By working together we will be in a much better position to welcome the return of international flying in the not too distant future, delivering a much needed boost to the global economy,” he said.
His comments follow a recent AirAsia review of Covid-19 procedures and protocols in regional countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, China and Australia, which showed existing travel requirements vary across Asean countries, making it challenging and difficult for travellers to understand and follow.
The different travel protocols across regional countries also pose operational difficulties to airlines and travel operators. Without common travel protocols, manual verification of health and travel documents becomes more time consuming and is prone to error and fraud, especially with an increase in the use of fake health certification.
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“Furthermore, with 40pc-50pc of the regional population expected to be vaccinated by the third quarter of 2021, travel policies should be updated regularly to reflect the current situation including the possible removal of quarantine requirements,” he added.
The report also concluded that travel bubbles that are currently implemented in the region are mostly limited to business and essential travellers only, and business travellers are less likely to provide a much needed boost to the tourism industry as the majority of corporate meetings can now be conducted online.
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A key recommendation from the AirAsia review is for the expansion of travel bubbles for leisure travellers to be implemented in phases starting with destinations in safe zones.
Meanwhile, the most concerning aspect of the data security breach involving several airlines recently is the broad scope of the attack, says Singapore’s Synopsys Software Integrity Group.
Its senior security engineer, Boris Cipot said one of the lessons that organisations can take away from the security breach is the importance of creating security rules and procedures which not only applies to internal stakeholders, but also for their partners in the supply chain.
“This means taking the software and service provider processes into consideration when discussing a partnership and defining what security measures will be implemented,” he said in a statement today.
Cipot noted that the breach did not happen as a direct attack on the airlines, but involved a third-party information technology (IT) service provider.
On March 4, air transport communications and IT service provider, Sita confirmed that it was the victim of a cyber-attack, leading to a data security incident involving certain passenger data that was stored on the Sita Passenger Service System (US) Inc’s (Sita PSS) servers.
After confirmation of the seriousness of the data security incident on Feb 24, 2021, Sita said it had taken immediate action to contact affected Sita PSS customers and all related organisations.
On the same day, Singapore Airlines (SIA) said Sita had informed the airline regarding the incident.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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