China's 'Golden Week' national holiday is over. Between 1st and 8th October, China's airlines conducted 110,000 domestic flights. On 30th September, the eve of the holiday, 1.7 million people flew. Then an estimated 13 million boarded planes over the whole period.

Pundits are forecasting that China's big three airlines — China Southern, China Eastern and Air China — will report profits for the third quarter. That's a remarkable turn of events.

During the 'Golden Week' China recorded an estimated 637 million trips by rail, road, ship and air. These travellers generated revenues for the tourist sector of US$68.6- billion. That's 21% fewer trips and spending down by 30% compared with last year. Nonetheless, these are encouraging figures.

With Covid-19 restrictions preventing international travel, the Chinese pivoted to their domestic market. Instead of trips to Paris, Japan and Korea, internal destinations benefited. Hainan Island, with its new duty-free shopping status, attracted considerable numbers of tourists. Hainan’s duty-free shops alone earned sales of US$78- million.

Even Wuhan, the heart of the outbreak, had hotel occupancy rates of 80%. As the outlook turned brighter, the Huazhu Hotel Group saw it share price rise 9% on the Nasdaq. Meanwhile, Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels saw income rise by more than half.

This bounce-back is stark proof that effective virus containment will provide the public with confidence to fly again.

To get the aviation industry back in the air, a consistent approach to Covid-19 must come in. Uniform standards including for testing, health certificates and air corridors are necessary. Unfortunately, this looks some way off. Politics and national interests appear to be holding back progress on the harmonisation of protocols.

“This bounce-back is stark proof that effective virus containment will provide the public with confidence to fly again.”

For example, Hong Kong, Singapore and many other places have robust protocols for testing arriving passengers. These processes come supported by effective track and trace systems. Such testing doesn’t remove all the risks, but goes a long way to mitigating the dangers. Yet, even first-world Britain lags behind. Heathrow Airport had ready an arrivals testing facility in August, but the politicians haven't given the green light. It sits idle.

In the USA, protocols differ between the states, and a national consensus hasn't been possible.

Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific Airlines is trialling a rapid testing system, as are other carriers. Also, the possibility of safe air-corridors is on the cards. Yet, all these commendable efforts are piecemeal. Unless incorporated into an industry-wide system, their value is marginal.

The question needs asking: which international institution will take on the task of unifying standards? There are those who argue that the International Civil Aviation Organisation or the World Health Organisation must take the lead. Or maybe someone else?

ICAO published guidance for a Covid-19 recovery in June this year. Even so, this remains guidance without a coordinating entity to drive forward consensus and action. Thus, the efficacy of this excellent guidance is limited by structural issues.

Either way, we know from our experience of aviation safety and security, that when the industry acts in unison, the results are outstanding. The improvements to safety tell us that.

Let's be clear. Waiting for the politicians to act may be too late for many airlines. The industry needs to work together to pull itself out of a hole.

Hand in hand to the departure gate