At a G20 side event entitled “Financial Measures for Aviation Recovery,” Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said that the G20 countries, together with global organizations in the field of aviation and industry, need to jointly identify the impact of the pandemic and then take global action to accelerate recovery.
"The financial aspect is crucial in the aviation industry. Therefore, this dialogue provides a record of lessons learned, good experiences in countries to restore the aviation sector. Remember, what we are doing is the G20 program. So, not only for Indonesia, although Indonesia may be a good example after the pandemic, we can recover quickly even though it is not optimal," Sumadi added on the sidelines of the dialogue in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Tuesday.
He said that the G20 dialogue was attended in person by the president of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Salvatore Sciacchitano; officials from the International Air Transport Association (IATA); a number of international leasing companies; Aergo Capital, a major player in the aviation industry whose portfolio includes Boeing and Airbus; as well as transport ministers and senior officials from ASEAN member countries, the European Union, the United States, Italy, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and India.
"I am proud that the president of ICAO is willing to attend. In fact, the topic (dialogue) he gave was how the aviation industry rose. It is not easy to attend one event, but at this G20 prestige event, we created a side event that discussed efforts to awaken the aviation world as a whole,” Sumadi added.
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Meanwhile, at the event, ICAO president Sciacchitano praised Indonesia's attitude and resolve to continue the G20 commitment to support the recovery of global aviation.
"The reason I am here is because I respect Indonesia's commitment, concern, and role in bringing aviation issues to be one of the concerns during its leadership at the G20," Sciacchitano said.
He informed that currently, aviation has become a sector that has been quite severely affected by the pandemic due to various restrictions on mobility and activities. Before COVID-19, there were 4.5 billion international passengers traveling by air transport, he noted.
"However, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, that number fell or minus 60 percent, then minus 40 percent in 2021," Sciacchitano added.
He said that this year, the ICAO observed that the number of passengers began to approach the levels seen in 2019 in several regions, including Europe, North America, and Latin America.
However, the total recovery of the global aviation sector is predicted in 2023, he said.
"Therefore, the aviation sector needs full support from the government, and related to this, the G20 Summit is an important opportunity to reaffirm the commitment of G20 countries in previous years to support the aviation sector, which will encourage economic and social growth,” the ICAO president added.
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Translator: Genta T, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Suharto
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