The drastic reduction of passenger flights due to the Coronavirus crisis has put mail flows under pressure. It has created challenges for posts to guarantee the delivery of mail, especially across continents. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, IPC has been coordinating operational information exchange, assisting in enhancing cross-border postal cooperation and the sharing of best practices on preventative safety measures for postal staff.
However, this is not the first time IPC has supported postal operators across the globe during international crisis situations. Back in 2010, airline operations were completely stopped for several weeks due to the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. IPC actively supported European members through the Sprinter Network to find alternative ways to ensure cross-border mail delivery.
The same year, two explosive packages originating from Yemen were discovered in cargo flights at destination of the US. After that, the United States imposed extremely restrictive constraints to air carriage that made it very difficult to transport mail to the US. IPC supported the European members by contracting a charter flight to the US, compliant with all security regulations, in order to keep volumes moving and avoiding backlogs.
(IPC)
