APA Issue 2, 2021
RECONNECTING THE WORLD Travel bubbles, health passports and new touchless technology are all set to play a role in facilitating aviation’s recovery from COVID-19, writes Joe Bates.
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ith traffic numbers still significantly down on pre-pandemic levels and airlines understandably reluctant to launch new routes in such a tough operating climate, the aviation industry remains very much in survival mode, although initiatives such as travel bubbles and digital health passports offer hope for better times ahead. Both options, of course, offer passengers the chance to once again enjoy what most of us have taken for granted all our lives – the opportunity to safely travel between two different countries without having to undergo a period of quarantine or self-isolation at one or both ends of the journey. The recently opened Trans-Tasman travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand (more of this below) has shown what can be done to allow the safe resumption of quarantine-free flights between two different countries. If all goes to plan, it will be followed by a travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong in the not too distant future, although proposals to introduce it in late May were unfortunately put on hold due to rising COVID-19 numbers in Singapore. Compared to the Australia-New Zealand version, the plans for the Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble are somewhat modest with initially only around 200 seats a day expected to be offered in each direction, but it will be a major step
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forward for both near neighbours and their respective hubs – Singapore Changi (SIN) and Hong Kong International Airport (HKG). Meanwhile, the clamour for digital health passports that show that passengers are fit to travel appears to be growing, with a number of different players driving the development of health apps. Initiatives such as these – supported, and in many cases made possible by the raft of new health measures and touchless self-service technology introduced by airports since the outbreak of the global pandemic – ensure that the light at the end of tunnel is beginning to get a bit brighter for the beleaguered aviation industry. TRANS-TASMAN TRAVEL BUBBLE In April, airports in Australia and New Zealand celebrated the re-opening of quarantine-free Trans-Tasman travel for Australian and New Zealand nationals for the first time in 12 months. And such has been the success of the move to date that at the time of going to press, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, was set to meet Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, to discuss the possibility of allowing vaccinated international travellers from around the world to board these flights.
