COMMENT: Flying death
WITH almost 100 people dead from bird flu worldwide and talk of a deadly pandemic if the disease really catches hold globally, should airlines be concerned?
Yes, very much so, is the view from IATA.
A certain amount of complacency is being felt in Europe, but every day brings new cases of ducks, chickens or swans succumbing to avian flu around the continent and governments seem to be finally waking up to the flying death gradually invading their borders.
In the UK, we have had just the one case - as ABTN went to press - that of a dead parrot and health chiefs did not find it a laughing matter. But cases over the Channel in France and elsewhere amongst our European cousins have finally got the Government to act. In France, they have already carried out contingency plans using commercial aircraft to transport health workers.
Human vaccinations and contingency plans have been ordered in the UK and suggestions of a mass vaccination of poultry and other birds are being considered.
All this activity has not escaped the attention of aviation”s governing body and last week IATA director general and chief executive Giovanni Bisignani made avian flu a centrepiece of his ”state of the nation” address to the second IATA/Asian Aerospace Aviation Summit in Singapore.
He said: ”Avian influenza is the wild card. Currently the disease is confined to birds. ”But if we see efficient human-to-human transmission develop the impact on airlines and the global economy could be enormous. We have the experience of SARS behind us and we are working closely with the World Health Organisation to ensure that the air transport industry is prepared.”
He advised us to avoid poultry farms and pointed concern executives to check out the latest advice on the IATA website.
The airlines are keeping fairly tight-lipped on their plans, but Virgin Atlantic has said it has plans drawn up and it is assumed all carriers have something in mind if a pandemic really hits.
The results for aviation would be catastrophic. Remember the foot and mouth crisis. US travellers stopped coming to the UK and we had the slightly bizarre result of having to walk over disinfectant soaked mats at US airports to gain entry.
Wild estimates have put a potential death toll worldwide at 50 million people and an avian flu crisis may spell the end for a few airlines as well in these tough times.
So far there have been no calls for people to stop flying as the disease is just confined to birds in Europe, but that will change if people die.
Be prepared for a tense year ahead, as another global crisis looks set to affect aviation.