The following report will provide an analysis on the risks and impacts of pandemics such as Bola Virus Disease in Singapore aviation industry, actions that can be taken to resolve the issues, the detailed steps on how to implement these measures and lastly, a personal opinion on whether the aviation companies or organization in Singapore are ready to tackle the issues caused by pandemics. A. Risks and impacts Risks of Pandemics The occurrence of a pandemic is unpredictable, no one knows where or when will it happen.
For example, a pandemic such as the Bola Virus Disease (FED) that is errantly occurring in African countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guiana will certainly increase the risk of the virus spreading into Singapore as many people will be exposed to it if they are traveling on air carriers that are arriving or transiting into Changing Airport from other airports. Especially when Singapore is a major aviation hub in Southeast Asia, handling more than 100,000 passenger movements through the airport each day, the risk of pandemics in Singapore is considerably high.
An example will be a recent potential Bola case, when a Nigerian woman was identified as a possible carrier of the virus. If this case were confirmed, the virus will be more likely to spread given that Singapore is a small and densely populated where people come into contact with each other very often every day. Impacts of Pandemics The most considerable impact on aviation industry will be an obvious decrease in the number of travelers coming to Singapore. Many airlines will start to halt flights to Singapore which may have a huge economic impact on the aviation industry.
Airlines might suffer from reduced number of flights and having low odd factor, especially for local carries due to the widespread of pandemics and fear of being infected with such pandemics. Thus, the number of jobs created in the aviation industry will be decreased as the need of more manpower will be unnecessary. In addition, airline operators may encounter losses in non- aeronautical revenue due to the reduction of travelers and locals visiting the airport. B. What are the possible measures that can be taken by the aviation industry to mitigate such risks and threats?
Some of the measures that can be taken by the Government/Regulatory Authorities are: 1 . Impose visa requirement for West African countries affected by Bola 2. Enforce medical screening to passenger arriving to Singapore from Bola affected countries 3. Organize emergency preparedness drill involving various stakeholders (such as airlines, airport operator and ground handlers) Some of the measures that can be taken by the Airport Operators are: 1. Develop post event plans (such as Recovery Time Available) 2.
Conduct communication campaigns to airport staff, travelers, and airlines on pandemics Some of the measure that can be taken by the Airline Operators are: 1 . Educate employees and crews on infection control and good personal hygiene – Cabin crew should sanitize or wash their hands with soap regularly when serving or assisting the passengers 2. Implement procedures for management of suspected infected travelers on board aircraft Some of the measures that can be taken by the Ground Handlers are: 1. Non-chemical disinfection of the aircraft cabin and cockpit for international flights 2.
Ensure that the staff have clean the aircraft interior properly to prevent any contamination or spread of possible bacteria or viruses 3. Ensure that the staff knows the correct procedures of handling special goods such as human remains. Avoid direct contact with the body of a deceased person as he might be infected. C. Detailed steps One of the measures that Changing Airport have implemented to manage pandemics such as Bola are conducting temperature screening for travelers and signs will be made available at the airport to show passengers to the screening station.
Steps for exit screening 1 . Primary screening to identify travelers for any possible signs of illnesses with Bola Virus Disease (FED) – Travelers and nationals who have been to effected countries with reported Bola virus disease activity in the last 21 days will be directed to a screening station to have their temperature checked and exposure to Bola through a questionnaire 2. After the temperature screening, a Health Declaration card, containing the contact information of the travelers in Singapore, are also required to be filled up. . Travelers without fever and coming from non-affected countries will move directly to the immigration control to clear immigration 4. Medical Referral – Travelers who exhibit signs and symptoms related to Bola during Primary greening will require further medical assessment at Tan Tock Seen Hospital 5. Travelers coming from Bola affected countries with no fever symptoms – These Travelers will be quarantined and put under surveillance 6.
The implementation of The Health Declaration Card will be carried out in various places other than Changing Airport such as the land and sea checkpoints and Shelter Airport. D. Personal Justification Yes. After the several bouts of pandemics happening in Singapore, it allows the companies and organizations in Singapore to constantly improve their Business nonentity Plans through the real-life exposure to a pandemics.
They will be able to find out the plans which does not work out and allow them to rectify them immediately in order to be well-prepared to handle the threats. However, this only applies to multinationals companies with a dedicated risk assessment team as most Small or Medium Enterprises (Seems) would not be able to afford a risk assessment division. The Seems would have to work harder to improvise on their Business Continuity Plans in order to catch up with the bigger companies in order to be more prepared for the threats.
