SINGAPORE - A handful of airlines are slowly ramping up their services, although most remain cautious and await signs of improvement in containing the spread of the coronavirus.
A new report from CarTrawler and the IdeaWorks Company has found evidence of more positive signs across the travel industry. Countries accounting for 85% of world GDP are now past their peak of new cases, “this in itself is a precursor to easing restrictions on travel bans”, the report indicated.
“Regaining consumer confidence in travel is the key to regenerating the industry, be that business or leisure. Travel is certainly facing turbulent times, but our industry will get through this,” said Aileen McCormack, chief commercial officer at Dublin-based CarTrawler,
Korean Air will be resuming 19 international routes in June while Qatar intends to gradually expand the network to 80 destinations by end-June and PAL has earmarked a restart this weekend.
Korea Air’s routes include Washington, DC, Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, Frankfurt, Singapore, Beijing and Kuala Lumpur, the company said in a statement. By June, the airline hopes to reinstate 146 flights on 32 international routes.
Korean Air has implemented temperature checks for all passengers boarding aircraft at Seoul Incheon Airport.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) is set to resume regular passenger flights on 16 May contingent on factors such as status of community quarantine in certain areas, government-imposed travel restrictions, passenger demand, and health situation in the countries the airline serves.
Qatar Airways’ gradual expansion will focus on adding connections between its hub in Doha to other hubs of its partner airlines, including London, Chicago, Dallas and Hong Kong as well as key cities such as Madrid and Mumbai.
Etihad Airways has been adding a schedule of special flights to destinations in Europe and Asia (Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo). Effective 15 May, Etihad will operate a regular scheduled return service from Melbourne to London Heathrow via Abu Dhabi.
Etihad is trialling new passenger screening kiosks to help identify travellers at the early phases of Covid-19 infection.
Garuda Indonesia lists 32 domestic routes as having resumed limited flight operations. Flight services are only available to passengers meeting strict health protocols and qualified to fly under rules established by the National Task Force on the Mitigation of COVID-19.
The airline continues to operate on some international sectors with limited frequency.
In India, low-cost carrier IndiGo resumed flight operations on 4 May and will increase the operating capacity over coming months. The airline also plans to reopen selected international flights, depending on the existing international travel guidelines.