Dear Colleagues,
At its latest teleconference on 6 Aug 2014 the EACCC discussed the evolution of the outbreak of Ebola virus in West Africa and its impact on aviation. Here are the latest facts provided by:
- EC/DG SANCO
- impacted States include: Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and recently Nigeria
- meeting of the WHO Emergency Committee will be held on 6 – 7 Aug
- EUROCONTROL/Network Manager – statistics on the number of non-stop flights between the impacted States and Europe and aircraft operators that carried out flights in Jul 2014
- Sierra Leone - total 31 flights from Freetown to Europe, of which 18 British Airways to London/Heathrow, and 9 Germania to London/Gatwick; as of 5 Aug 2014: British Airways has temporarily suspended flights to and from Liberia and Sierra Leone until 31 August 2014 due to the deteriorating public health situation in both countries (http://www.britishairways.com/travel/flightops/public/en_be?p_faqid=5072 )
- Guinea - total 13 flights from Conakry to Europe, of which 12 Air France to Paris Charles de Gaulle
- Liberia - total 16 flights from Monrovia to Europe, of which 15 Brussels Airlines to Brussels Zaventem
- Nigeria - total 440 flights from Nigeria (mainly from Abuja and Lagos) to Europe; main AOs: Air France, British Airways, DHL, Lufthansa, Iberia, KLM, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic
- IATA/Brussels – provisional analysis of operators from the impacted States to Europe in Jul 2014
- Non-stop: Air France, Alitalia. British Airways, Brussels Airlines, DHL, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic
- Others (connections): Ethiopian (operating from the impacted States to Europe via Addis Ababa), Egypt Air (via Cairo), Royal Jordanian (Amman), Royal Air Maroc (Casablanca), Emirates (Dubai; flights to Conakry suspended since 2 Aug), Etihad (Abu Dhabi), Kenya Airways (Accra and Nairobi), Qatar (Doha)
- Rough estimate of transported passengers directly and indirectly from Freetown/Conakry/Monrovia/Lagos to Europe: 80 000
EACCC continues close cooperation with the relevant organisations that are coordinating the response to this epidemic. Here is a list of publications of relevance that could assist State Focal Points in their coordination at the national level, and in particular in contacts with public health authorities, and, where appropriate, other modes of transport:
- World Health Organisation (WHO)
- issued Travel and transport risk assessment: Recommendations for public health authorities and transport sector – see http://www.who.int/ith/updates/20140421/en/
- published an Aviation Guide which includes information on sanitizing of aircraft – see http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/aviation_guide/en/
- ICAO
- issued a statement on ICAO and World Health Organization Collaboration on Ebola Outbreak - see http://www.icao.int/Newsroom/Pages/ICAO-and-World-Health-Organization-collaboration-on-Ebola-outbreak.aspx
- the web site of CAPSCA (Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and management of public health events in Civil Aviation) www.capsca.org contains the information of relevance for aviation regulation, public, health, aircraft or airport operations; in particular, on http://www.capsca.org/CAPSCARefs.html the following documents may be found:
- ICAO Health Related Documents
- Guidelines for States Concerning the Management of Communicable Disease Posing a Serious Public Health Risk
- Template For An Aviation Public Health Emergency Preparedness Plan
- Glossary of Aviation and Public Health Terms
- IATA
- published a Statement on Ebola Outbreak – see http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pages/2014-07-31-01.aspx
- IATA guidelines for air crew to manage a suspected communicable disease or other public health emergency on board is available on: http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/safety/health/Documents/health-guidelines-cabin-crew-2011.pdf
- ACI
- Issued CEO BRIEFING 09/2014 - Outbreak of EBOLA virus disease in West Africa: European coordination & preparedness (attached)
- EUROCONTROL/Network Manager – has coordinated an information note on Passenger Contact Tracing in support of the EACCC for the guidance of State Focal Points (attached)
Best regards,
Žarko Sivčev
Žarko Sivčev
EACCC Operations Manager
Cell: +32 499 94 24 00