To put it mildly, the airline sector has been decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Much like army of ants stomped on by an indifferent human foot, some airlines have managed to survive the impact of the coronavirus, but all have been badly bruised.
For the last year and half, people all over the world have been complaining about their sudden inability to travel, as if all the oxygen in the air had suddenly been whisked away.
But while we’re complaining about our unsatisfied wanderlust, pilots and cabin crew have had to turn to odd jobs to survive, with some even losing their jobs.
Now, however, we might finally be seeing a light at the end of the runway.
SIA & Scoot Cabin Crew Go Back to Flying at Least Once A Month
Pilots and cabin crew from SIA and Scoot have returned to the skies, with an increased frequency in flights.
Around 2,220 pilots and 6,500 cabin crew from SIA and Scoot are now flying once a month.
This amounts to 90% of pilots and 80% of cabin crew from the Singapore Airlines Group.
While the number and frequency of flights are still drastically lower than they were pre-pandemic, they are slowly increasing, with some grounded flights resumed.
In fact, SIA Group is likely to reach 33% of its pre-pandemic passenger capacity by the end of July, 5% more than June.
IATA: International Air Travel May Only Return in 2023
Okay, now it’s time for the bad news.
The number of passengers that boarded flights operated by the SIA Group in June was just 3.8% of that in December 2019.
And if you’ve been following news of our proposed travel bubble corridor with Hong Kong, you’d know that restarting international travel during the pandemic is a tricky task.
This is why the International Air Transport Association (Iata) predicted that global air travel will only return to normal in 2023.
In a report, the association predicted that passenger numbers would return to 52% of pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2021.
This number would shoot up to 88% next year, and surpass pre-pandemic levels by 5% in 2023.
Ah, optimism. How I’ve missed you.
This, of course, is just a prediction and is dependent on the global COVID-19 situation.
Leeway in Travel Curbs For Vaccinated Residents
Getting protection against the coronavirus is reason enough to get vaccinated, but if that isn’t enough, this might convince you to get jabbed.
Last month, Minister for Trade and Industry of Singapore Gan Kim Yong said that the authorities may give “some concession” to vaccinated people who are travelling or returning to Singapore.
This could mean that current stay-home notices may be shortened or done away with altogether. Instead, a traveller may undergo more COVID-19 tests.
This, too, would depend on the country visited and the COVID-19 situation there.
If both countries have a high vaccination rate and have kept infections under control, a travel arrangement may be set up.
According to Malaysia’s National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin, talks are in place to recognise MySejahtera – Malaysia’s contact tracing application – as the country’s “vaccination passport”.
Yes, one day in the future, we may be able to cross the border whenever we want, just as we did in the past.
However, we’ve been hurt many times by “talks” of a travel bubble, so we’ll reserve our optimism for now.
Learn more about the vaccination passports here:
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