Kamil Al-Awadhi, Regional Vice President of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for Africa and the Middle East, confirmed that "the impact of the Omicron Variant will be catastrophic, not only on the aviation sector, but on all sectors affected by the pandemic," noting that "the biggest problem lies in the irrational reaction of governments and the way they deal with the new variant."
He stated that "the followed governmental measures appear as if the world is going through a pandemic for the first time, as the closures, travel bans and the return of restrictions have no scientific basis, but are based on fear."
He explained that "the most affected countries are South Africa and the surrounding countries, in addition to that, we are witnessing the imposition of restrictions between European countries and the Middle East without a scientific study," calling on governments to "follow scientific approaches based on measures commensurate with the level of risks."
On the expected losses on the aviation sector due to the restrictions, Al-Awadhi revealed that we have estimated the losses since the beginning of Corona at more than 200 billion dollars, and therefore the new restrictions will have greater losses and a devastating impact on the aviation sector.
Al-Awadhi stressed that "travel prevention cannot help control the spread of the virus, but control is carried out with the health precautionary measures followed, whether vaccinations before travel or the obligation to wear masks."
Source (Al-Arabiya.net website, Edited)
