ALTA communication on COVID-19

ALTA calls on the governments of the region to work even more closely to guarantee the viability of the industry and the sustainability of the economies in the medium and long term through exceptional and temporary measures that allow for the operation and mobility of passengers.

The airline industry has been growing steadily in Latin America and the Caribbean and in 2019 reached its sixteenth consecutive year of growth with more than 300 million passengers carried by the region's airlines. The travel and tourism industry has consolidated as an important engine of the economies, representing 15.5% of the GDP of the Caribbean and 9.3% of Latin America and generating 13.5% of jobs in the Caribbean and 8.2% in Latin America, according to WTTC data. This is an industry of extreme relevance for the economic, social and political well-being of the region and therefore we see with great concern the growing impact that COVID-19 has on the entire air transport value chain, on passengers, the tourism sector and, finally, on a potential financial destabilization of the nations of the region. Latin America does not yet show the impact of the coronavirus in figures, except for some affected routes to Europe and Asia. However, estimates presented by IATA calculate that in 2020 global passenger traffic will be reduced between 11% and 19% and the passenger transport industry will have losses between 63 billion and 113 billion dollars in revenue, with losses in cargo transport yet to be confirmed. Therefore, ALTA calls on the governments of the region to work even more closely to guarantee the viability of the industry and the sustainability of the economies in the medium and long term through exceptional and temporary measures that allow for the operation and mobility of passengers. In this sense, ALTA requests the relevant authorities: - Maintain fluid contact with the airlines in order to inform and effectively coordinate any entry control measures or health forms required by the different States - Flexibility in airport slot allocation rules as an exceptional measure to ensure that low demand or cancelled flights do not affect airlines' historical compliance required for the planning of the next flight season - Reduce overall costs to the industry to mitigate the impact of this exceptional situation. These include taxes and fees and charges throughout the airline supply chain -Adjust working conditions as a contingency measure to guarantee jobs in the industry during this public health emergency The air industry by nature generates very low margins and the impact of COVID-19 on economic activity is a risk to the livelihoods of many airlines and industry companies, which are a driving force for many sectors of the global economy. ALTA is at the disposal of the region's authorities to evaluate the recommended measures and to implement policies in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organization as urgent measures to minimize the spread of the virus, while guaranteeing the industry's viability while we resume the stability of operations