On 15 and 16 June, 2O2O, the Arab Civil Aviation Organization participated in the virtual seminar organized by the General Authority of Civil Aviation in the United Arab Emirates, in partnership with the International Civil Aviation Organization, under the theme "Developing a collective design for the future of air traffic management post Covid-19". In his presentation during the opening session of the symposium, His Excellency the Director General of the Arab Civil Aviation Organization pointed out the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global air and tourism transport activity in general, and the Arab world in particular, and the measures adopted by the organization´s general administration in coordination with the civil aviation authorities of member states and Regional and international organizations, in order to implement them in a manner that guarantees fighting the virus outbreak, while ensuring the rebound and recovery of the sector and its resurgence. It is worth mentioning that one of the first priorities was to enhance cooperation between Arab countries to implement joint measures in order to prevent the spread of the virus in them, taking into account the sensitivity of this period and transport continuity that it requires for major products like Food, medical supplies and equipment, personal protective equipment as well as other products necessary to operate sensitive supply chains, without forgetting evacuation flights.

In order to achieve the success of the sector´s recovery in the present time while ensuring its flexibility in the future, an Aviation Resumption post Covid 19 Working Group named CART was established. The new ICAO council working group is composed of Council´s members and high level representatives of the aviation sector, including chairpersons and general managers of the air transport industry, and the competent bodies of the United Nations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), in addition to the heads of many national and regional aviation authorities, including the Arab Civil Aviation Organization. The aim of the working group is to identify and recommend strategic priorities and policies for countries and sector operators, who would benefit from all data made available to governments and the sector in order to come up with solutions to leverage the sector´s immediate challenges, identify the priorities that must be addressed to restart the network in a post-Covid-19 world, making it more flexible and responsive during the process, and to provide high-level orientation needed by governments and the industry to initiate the international air transport restart recovery from the emerging corona virus.

The final report format was adopted on June 01, 2020, and approved by the ICAO Council, alongside the TAKEOFF guidance document, which proposes a phased approach to aviation restart and outlines a set of generally applicable risk-based measures, in line with WHO recommendations and guidelines, that would mitigate the risks of transmission of the COVID-19 virus during the travel process. These procedures include: physical distancing to the extent possible whilst implementing appropriate risk-based measures, wearing face masks by passengers, cabin crew and flight workers, routine cleansing of all areas that could be places of contact and transmission for passengers, pre and post flight health checks, passengers and flight staff contact details tracking, testing if quick and reliable tests are available in real time.