Some countries have announced that they will move to lockdown level three status at the beginning of June 2020. Although we are still not allowed to travel, this is good news for us because it means we are all moving closer to fulfilling our travel dreams.
Adapt to the future
The future of travel is not as we know it; that’s also good news because we are eager and ready to adapt to the future. Once airports and borders open and we are allowed to travel freely, we will be pleasantly surprised at the healthy air travel measures in place.
‘. . . new measures such as social distancing . . .’
The entire process of checking in for flights will include new measures such as social distancing, sanitation of passengers and luggage, wider spaces for various queues waiting to board. There will be a thorough cleaning of cabins and the following of sanitary measures at airports.
Biometric check-in
We will see extensive all-biometric check-in systems and efficient ‘do it yourself’ disinfectant fogging tunnels for dropping off of bags. We will notice the demarcation of spaces for social distancing in corridors and concourses, larger protective barriers at customer service counters, hand sanitation stations and thermal scanning to check crowds for fever-grade body temperatures.
Staff in protective gear and electrostatic spraying
In the seating processes of travel we will see blocked seats, electrostatic spraying, and staff in protective gear and, of course, masks. As for food, the idea in the future is to stop serving on short flights and consider ‘light refreshments’ for long.
Under level three lockdown, travel is likely to begin with internal ‘staycations,’ before expanding across regions, and then finally across continents to welcome the return of travel to international destinations.
Preparing to resume domestic flights.
In recent news South Africa announced they are preparing to resume some domestic flights under the country’s new level 3 lockdown. Priority will be given to flights under the ‘golden triangle’ of OR Tambo International, Cape Town International and King Shaka International, with flights initially running between 06h00 to 09h00 and 15h00 to 18h00. South Africa is also preparing for inter-provincial road transport routes which are considered as feeders to the three main airports. Travel permits will only be issued to persons who can prove they must travel.
‘Let’s be optimistic . . . ’
Let’s be optimistic, lockdown level three brings our hopes to travel sooner than we thought!