States attending the ICAO High Level Conference on Covid-19 declared a commitment to 14 measures to enable a revival of air travel. 

Iata said two of these needed “the most urgent action”, the first being measures to stop the spread of the disease by international air travel via common digital applications, testing and vaccinations.

The governments also committed to a “harmonised and inclusive approach” to air travel, including “alleviating or exempting testing and/or quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated or recovered passengers”.

“Government-imposed restrictions continue to stop a revival of international travel,” said Willie Walsh, Iata director general. “It remains 70% down on pre-crisis levels. 

“The ICAO commitments show that governments understand what is needed to restart global connectivity. The task now is implementation. 

“Some governments have already started. The imminent opening of the US market to vaccinated travellers will be a big step forward. But we cannot let the output of this meeting remain as words on paper.”

He added: “After a year-and-a-half of experience with Covid-19 we have the knowledge, data and experience to safely facilitate international travel without border restrictions.

"All the evidence and recommendations point towards restoring the freedom to travel for those vaccinated. And it is also clear that we have the capability to manage those without access to vaccination using testing.”