IBAC Spearheads ICAO Public Health Corridor Workshop – New Virtual Course Introduced
ICAO and IBAC develop a workshop providing public health risk management guidance for States to support resumption of international flights.
Montreal – August 12, 2021 – The International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) has developed a new International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Public Health Corridor (PHC) workshop as part of an implementation package (iPACK) that was recently launched online by ICAO.
As part of ICAO’s broader resource mobilization efforts, IBAC offered to lead a group of experts drawn from a wide range of air transport specialists to develop the curriculum and content for a workshop in support of the Public Health Corridor iPack, which will provide training to national authorities around the world to help re-open international air travel.
Key contributions to the development of the iPACK workshop included significant instruction design leadership provided by TrainingPort.net, an innovative Vancouver-based business aviation training provider, and medical expertise from MedAire, a worldwide provider of fully integrated travel health and safety solutions.
IBAC Director General, Kurt Edwards commented, “This is an opportunity for industry to advise regulators and policy makers around the world on how best to facilitate the maintenance and return of air transport in a safe, efficient manner in line with agreed public-health and operational guidance. We coordinated subject matter experts from nearly 20 travel related businesses and associations to gather their input for the workshop content. Many thanks to the TrainingPort.net team for their instructional development expertise that they voluntarily provided to design the curriculum and to Dr. Paulo Alves of MedAire for his aeromedical expertise. We are grateful to all the organizations and individuals involved in this effort, as well as to ICAO for having the confidence in us to lead the development of this important resource,” added Edwards.
“TrainingPort is proud to have partnered with IBAC to contribute the online training portion to the ICAO Public Health Corridor iPack project,” said Bryan Barratt, TrainingPort.net Chief Executive Officer. “It was an honor to work with numerous relevant industry subject matter experts to design and produce such important content, and to collectively work toward getting the world travelling safely again.”
MedAire’s Global Director of Aviation Health, Dr. Paulo M. Alves, MD, MSc, FasMA, remarked, “This new training curriculum will empower states to safely reopen borders after careful risk assessments and will undoubtedly contribute to the rebound of aviation on a global scale. It was a privilege to work with IBAC Director, ICAO Liaison, Andy Meyer, on this project. His leadership and the expertise that the IBAC and Trainingport.net teams brought to the table made this a truly rewarding experience."
IBAC is a partner of the ICAO Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA) programme, a voluntary cross-sectoral, multi-organizational collaboration program managed by ICAO supported by the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition to ICAO, WHO, and IBAC, CAPSCA includes representatives of the airlines, manufacturers, air navigation services providers, airports, key aviation authorities, and key national public-health authorities. CAPSCA provided the necessary medical, public-health, and operational expertise to the ICAO Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) for guidance documents on a coordinated recovery of global air transport from the COVID19 pandemic, ICAO Doc 10152 Testing and Cross-border Risk Management Measures Manual, as well as the concept of public health corridors to ensure the continuation or resumption of international air travel. IBAC contributed to the development of the public health corridor concept and coordinated the development of parts of Doc 10152, working with a team of CAPSCA experts.
“We’re grateful for IBAC’s efforts to assemble this team and deliver results which will make important contributions to global air transport recovery,” said ICAO Secretary General Mr. Juan Carlos Salazar. “The civil aviation community is working very closely through ICAO today to reconnect our world, and we’re committed to bringing stakeholders together to assure that our sector’s recovery proceeds safely, securely and sustainably.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
A PHC is formed when two or more States agree to mutually recognize the implemented public health mitigation measures on one or more routes between their States. To enable such mutual recognition, States are strongly encouraged to actively collaborate and share information with other States and enter bilateral or multilateral discussions with each other to implement PHCs in a harmonized manner and mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
To support States with the implementation of PHCs, ICAO developed the Implementation Package (iPack) Establishing a PHC. The iPack includes associated procedures and relevant tools that will be regularly updated in view of the latest scientific developments.
Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation is a voluntary cross-sectoral, multi-organizational collaboration program managed by ICAO supported by the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition to ICAO, WHO, and IBAC, CAPSCA includes representatives of the airlines, manufacturers, air navigation services providers, airports, key aviation authorities, and key national public-health authorities.
ICAO Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART)
CAPSCA provided the necessary medical, public-health, and operational expertise to the ICAO Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) for guidance documents on a coordinated recovery of global air transport from the COVID19 pandemic,ICAO Doc 10152 Testing and Cross-border
Risk Management Measures Manual as well as the concept of public health corridors to ensure the continuation of air travel.
About IBAC
IBAC represents the interests of business aviation worldwide. IBAC is a non-profit, international trade association with official observer status at the International Civil Aviation Organization, the UN Specialized Agency for aviation matters, in Montreal, Canada. IBAC promotes and manages the industry-leading standards for best safety practices through its International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAOTM); International Standard for Business Aviation Handling (IS-BAHTM); Safety Management Tool Kit; SMS eLearning training; and Aircrew Identification Card. www.ibac.org
About TrainingPort
TrainingPort.net equips business aviation professionals with online training solutions that mitigate operational risk, elevate competency, and facilitate continuous improvement. Our innovative online progressive recurrent program delivers concise 15-minute lessons all throughout the year, which maximizes learning retention while minimizing down time for training. TrainingPort.net has delivered over 1.5 million lessons to thousands of trainees across the globe. As an IS-BAO Program Support Affiliate (PSA,) TrainingPort.net is a complete training solution for IS-BAO and IS-BAH registered operators or anyone seeking exemplary online training for general operating subjects. If you’re looking for a training partner instead of a training provider, please visit us at https://www.trainingport.net/ or email us at info@trainingport.net.
About MedAire
MedAire, an International SOS company, has been a partner to the aviation industry since 1985. MedAire provides fully integrated travel health and safety solutions to over 150 of the world’s leading airlines and more than 4,000 private aircraft including 75% of fortune 100 companies. Integrated solutions include aviation security intelligence, real-time health and security advice and assistance, training, equipment, and professional services for crew and passengers both in and beyond the cabin. MedAire handles thousands of calls a year to help crew and passengers manage medical and travel safety events in the air and on the ground with 24/7 access to emergency care doctors, nurses, and aviation security specialists. For more information go to www.medaire.com
About ICAO
A specialized agency of the United Nations, ICAO was created by governments in 1944 to support their diplomacy on international air transport matters. Since that time, countries have adopted over 12,000 standards and practices through ICAO which help to align their national regulations relevant to aviation safety, security, efficiency, capacity and environmental protection, enabling a truly global network to be realized. ICAO forums also provide opportunities for advice and advocacy to be shared with government decision-makers by industry groups, civil society NGOs, and other officially-recognized air transport stakeholders.