Aviation sector in the future will not be the same as before

Many workers in the civil aviation sector expect that the return of travel again in the coming weeks if restrictions on flights are lifted will not be as they were previously, due to the measures expected to be imposed by airports and airlines, as a precaution against the transmission of Covid virus -19).

 

Aviation workers nominate a set of procedures upon returning to work again, such as requiring travelers to check for the virus and obliging them to wear protective masks throughout the flight, and other preventive measures, while excluding the idea of ​​social spacing in the plane due to insufficient space, and that its application will lead to a reduction in seat capacity, This leads companies to increase the price of the ticket to cover costs.

 

The head of the World Council of Business Aviation, and the founder and CEO of the Federation of Business and Private Aviation in the Middle East and North Africa (MEPA), Ali Ahmed Al-Naqbi: «The return of aviation to operation during the coming period will be through two phases, the first before reaching a vaccine (Coved -19), and the second after reaching the vaccine, for the first stage, the carriers or destinations and authorities overseeing the flight will be toughened in the rules of boarding the plane, and there will be new procedures that the traveler has not been accustomed to before ».

 

Al-Naqbi added: “One of the easiest and most prominent measures that will impose health checks for the traveler before boarding the plane, whether at the airport by the medical authorities present there, or obliging any traveler to do a medical examination proving that he is free of the virus hours before his travel, adding that things will be difficult for Travelers, but these procedures are necessary. ”

 

Al-Naqabi ruled out that the world’s airlines would apply the social spacing system to the plane, because that would lead to a significant reduction in seat capacity, which would lead companies to increase prices to cover costs, expecting some new regulations regarding the behavior of passengers on the plane.

 

According to Al-Naqbi, the procedures will differ according to the destination. The endemic countries will certainly be difficult and complicated to travel to and from, in contrast to countries that have recorded few injuries or have managed to get rid of the epidemic quickly.

 

Said representative of China Eastern in the Emirates, Saeed Al-Abedi, said that the Corona virus will change the map of travel by plane, and there will be procedures that the traveler has not been accustomed to in the past, such as thermal examination when entering and exiting the airport, and checking the temperature inside the plane.

 

Al-Abdi explained that the procedures will not stop at that, but will extend to requiring travelers to wear protective masks throughout the flight, sterilizing luggage and reducing movement inside the cabin, adding that the most important procedure will be mandatory medical examination to detect the virus for those who want to travel.

 

Al-Abdi also ruled out the increase in companies’ prices, because this leads to a reluctance to travel, especially since the market needs stimulus and support through price cuts that encourage people to return to travel, which would initially be modest to improve over time.

 

For his part, the regional director of the Middle East Airlines in the Emirates, Muhammad Shuaib, said that the return of the airline to operate again during the coming period, will not be as in the past, due to the precautionary measures that the tankers will implement inside the aircraft and airport procedures as well.

 

Shuaib added: “The traveler will be forced to perform the medical examination before traveling, and the examination may be at the airport if the results appear quickly and secured, or abroad through accredited health centers.”

 

Shuaib agrees with his predecessor, the impossibility of applying social divergence on board aircraft through the policy of the middle seat, because this will lead to aircraft taking off with empty seats, and thus companies will have to increase prices to cover the cost, pointing out that higher prices will result in the reluctance of many travelers to travel.

 

Shuaib pointed out that the traveler will notice the new procedures once he enters the airport, starting with his obligation to wear protective masks, sterilization and social divergence, in addition to sterilizing luggage.

 

Airlines’ representatives agree with the recommendations of the International Air Transport Association, which last week called on travelers and air crews to place face masks on board and throughout their flights, as a precautionary measure to prevent HIV infection (Covid-19).

 

The International Federation has not encouraged airlines to implement social divergence measures by leaving the seat in the center empty.