August 1st, 2020 signaled relief to airline companies who have been lying idle in losses due to the global Coronavirus pandemic. – By Gerald Gekara
The aviation industry has experienced a series of staff layoffs, permanent closures, profit warnings and canceled jet orders, and an overall dip in the economy as a result of people unable to travel.
The estimated decline in total airport revenues on a global scale is estimated to be more than $97 billion for 2020, with a passenger drop of 4.6 million recorded.
However, ‘of importance is life’. President Uhuru Kenyatta gave express orders to resume economic activities in Kenya, including the reopening of the skies.
Despite the news being happily received among international passengers and hotels, Kenya could be juggling with a disease that even the World Health Organization experts have not had a grip on.
Several countries including China, the epicenter of the virus have experienced multiple waves of the virus, with each wave proving more lethal than the predecessor.
However, during the reopening of international travel, Kenya Airports Authority Ag. Managing Director Alex Gitari reassured that all health protocols were observed to make sure Kenya does not import more lethal COVID-19 patients.
“The protocols issued for Air Travel Operations during the Covid-19 Public Health Crisis have been developed to help contain the spread of the virus and ensure that the sector is opened up taking cognizance of the measures put in place by the Ministry of Health,” said Mr. Gitari
Some of the measures include installation of thermal screening equipment, provision of handwashing and sanitization stations, provision of Port Health observation rooms and mounting of physical distancing markers.
Mr Gitari reiterated that passengers arriving in Kenya will need a Covid-19 Certificate for a test taken not earlier than 96 hours before flight. The passengers will be subjected to thermos screening and will be expected not to exhibit any sign related to Covid-19.
“At the airport, the passengers will be observed by our port health personnel for Covid-19 symptoms, they are also expected to have filled a questionnaire and there is an app that has been issued to guide passengers on filling that questionnaire before they arrive,” said Mr. Gitari.
Passenger departing from Kenya will be required to check and ascertain the protocols that they are expected to fulfill in their destination countries.
The KAA Managing Director noted that KAA had already provided its frontline staff with personal protective equipment including masks, gloves, and disinfectants in sufficient quantities.
“Further to that, we continue to sensitize and communicate to all our staff on Covid-19 preventive measures,” he concluded.
Governments started lifting restrictions and reopening their economies. Some were even praised for their successes and many people resumed their daily lives.
But that optimism has not lasted. A sudden record number of infections is being reported in many countries.
Some call it a resurgence, others a “second wave”.
The World Health Organization also predicts the pandemic is likely to go on for a long time, even as scientists work on a vaccine that is likely to be distributed in 2021.
