Auckland International Airport announces peer reviewed research towards international borders

7 February, 2021

Auckland International Airport collaborated (06-Feb-2021) with industry partners and medical experts in supporting the development of a risk-based border model aimed at building further understanding of how to safely manage the risk of coronavirus for New Zealand across the aviation system and support the safe reopening of the border when conditions allow. Peer reviewed research published in the New Zealand Medical Journal on 06-Feb-2021 evaluates the risk posed by passengers from countries with different prevalence of coronavirus travelling to New Zealand and proposes a multi layered risk mitigation approach in support of a coronavirus elimination strategy. The strategy, which was developed over six months, suggests more conservative mitigations than the government policy at the time. Developed by an expert medical advisory panel, the model has been medically peer reviewed and is in line with emerging international standards that encourage each country to design strong border controls that match each country's virus management strategy. Auckland International Airport CEO Adrian Littlewood said the model focuses on a traveller's departure country risk using a 'traffic light' approach to categorise each country using coronavirus risk data and is dynamic, in that as a country's risk profile changes, the recommended controls also change. [more - original PR]