Lu notes that “Travel bubbles” within regions or other initiatives are the path of short term future until a vaccine is developed. “The basic requirement for resumption of international air traffic is recognition of the other country’s health system and standards as well as the standards for information exchange,” she says. “I would think that more bilateral agreements will follow, albeit slowly. These countries would likely be geographically closer to each other or have similar health and information standards. “
This would mean that point-to-point routes might be more practical than connections through a transit node. Lu notes that airlines may or need to be prepared for very different flight patterns Airport operations go forward.
These countries currently have the largest flight capacity
China and the US are world leaders in the number of seats available to passengers. according to OAG. The data also show that Europe is experiencing “the world’s largest decline in air services”.
Grant points out that China, the United States, India, Japan, and Indonesia already had large domestic travel markets. These countries did not see such significant capacity cuts as some smaller markets that allow international travel and travel Quarantine processes could affect the speed of change. Because of this, they are among the first to see an increase in inland capacity according to OAG data for the week ending May 24.
The OAG lists, in descending order, the remaining top 10 domestic travel markets with the most seats available for the same week: Russia, South Korea, Vietnam, Iran, and Mexico.
“Many of these countries would not appear on a weekly list if Western Europe and particularly markets like the UK, Germany and Spain were completely open and functional,” says Grant. “This underscores the very difficult challenges many global airlines are currently facing and how difficult the recovery phase from COVID-19 will be for airlines.”
China Southern Airlines had the most seats for sale in China, followed by China Eastern Airlines in the same week, according to OAG. In the US, the Southwest was the leader with the highest capacity, followed by Americans.
How travelers weigh and decide their options when it is safe to travel againAirlines have made major changes to their services and protocols to regain consumer confidence. For now, it’s just a wait and see approach to how quickly the aviation industry, a driver of the global economy, is recovering.
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