What Vaccines Could Mean for Air Travel
By: Sejal Chhetri
(Credit: International Airport Review)
What does the future of air travel look like? Are airlines on-board with vaccines for increased operations? With vaccines being pumped out and countries rushing to vaccinate those who can get them, one question is on everyone’s mind: does this mean that travel can be resumed safely?
The Airline Industry took a big hit during the initial waves of COVID-19. With travel being suspended and most borders closing, most passenger airlines reported losses. However, it seems that with the increase in vaccination efforts, many look forward to traveling again.
Travel and ticketing sites such as Skyscanner reported an increase of 48% on searches (Guardian, 2020). As expected, flights are being booked in advance to take advantage of the low airfare, however, this also creates a change in supply and demand. Airlines such as Delta are opening up their middle seats, which were previously blocked for social distancing purposes, creating an increased capacity. We can only ascertain the change in price by taking the proportion of changes in supply and demand into consideration. However, it would not be remiss to predict that most airfares will be on the rise, using the dips and rises in airfares from previous recessions and global events as reference.
While the vaccine trials and vaccination efforts are good news, there is still the question of whether vaccination, for those who can get them, should be mandatory for travel or not. Since vaccines are highly effective at preventing contraction and transmission of the virus, many airlines are looking at issuing vaccine/health passports as travel documents. Some airlines have even adopted the use of apps such as veriFLY for international flights which, at the moment, requires negative COVID-19 results for boarding. This is not only for safety but also because it means that international travel can be resumed with fewer restrictions. Yet, this also poses a challenge, there may be customers who do not want to be vaccinated, and should the number of unvaccinated travelers be greater, airlines may face challenges with accommodating them (especially for international travel) and operations could be hindered by travel restrictions.
Another challenge would be the questions regarding safety. Despite the vaccines being highly effective, it does not provide complete immunity, and although airlines are being extremely meticulous in sanitization and maintenance of the aircraft, having a full airbus might still give travelers anxiety about exposure to the virus. Airlines, however, maintain that air travel is safe or even safer once you are vaccinated.
Despite the many speculations regarding how the vaccines are affecting airlines, one thing remains true. With the pandemic reversing decades of air travel growth, bouncing back to the same level of travel is going to take a few years regardless of the rate of vaccination. Even so, vaccinations are looking to be the saviors of travel and the airline industry.
What does the future of air travel look like? Are airlines on-board with vaccines for increased operations? With vaccines being pumped out and countries rushing to vaccinate those who can get them, one question is on everyone’s mind: does this mean that travel can be resumed safely?
The Airline Industry took a big hit during the initial waves of COVID-19. With travel being suspended and most borders closing, most passenger airlines reported losses. However, it seems that with the increase in vaccination efforts, many look forward to traveling again.
Travel and ticketing sites such as Skyscanner reported an increase of 48% on searches (Guardian, 2020). As expected, flights are being booked in advance to take advantage of the low airfare, however, this also creates a change in supply and demand. Airlines such as Delta are opening up their middle seats, which were previously blocked for social distancing purposes, creating an increased capacity. We can only ascertain the change in price by taking the proportion of changes in supply and demand into consideration. However, it would not be remiss to predict that most airfares will be on the rise, using the dips and rises in airfares from previous recessions and global events as reference.
While the vaccine trials and vaccination efforts are good news, there is still the question of whether vaccination, for those who can get them, should be mandatory for travel or not. Since vaccines are highly effective at preventing contraction and transmission of the virus, many airlines are looking at issuing vaccine/health passports as travel documents. Some airlines have even adopted the use of apps such as veriFLY for international flights which, at the moment, requires negative COVID-19 results for boarding. This is not only for safety but also because it means that international travel can be resumed with fewer restrictions. Yet, this also poses a challenge, there may be customers who do not want to be vaccinated, and should the number of unvaccinated travelers be greater, airlines may face challenges with accommodating them (especially for international travel) and operations could be hindered by travel restrictions.
Another challenge would be the questions regarding safety. Despite the vaccines being highly effective, it does not provide complete immunity, and although airlines are being extremely meticulous in sanitization and maintenance of the aircraft, having a full airbus might still give travelers anxiety about exposure to the virus. Airlines, however, maintain that air travel is safe or even safer once you are vaccinated.
Despite the many speculations regarding how the vaccines are affecting airlines, one thing remains true. With the pandemic reversing decades of air travel growth, bouncing back to the same level of travel is going to take a few years regardless of the rate of vaccination. Even so, vaccinations are looking to be the saviors of travel and the airline industry.
