When will airlines resume flights?
Budget airline Wizz Air announced plans to resume some flights from Luton Airport on 1 May and said it will restart selected flights with ‘enhanced’ health and safety measures
The airline said in a statement that cabin crew will be required to wear masks and gloves on all flights and will distribute sanitising wipes to passengers. In addition, new distancing measures will be introduced during boarding and aircraft will be disinfected overnight.
Managing Director Owain Jones said: “As we restart selected Luton flights to provide an essential service to passengers who need to travel, our primary concern is the health, safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew.
“The protective measures that we are implementing will ensure the most sanitary conditions possible.
"We encourage our customers to watch our new video on how to stay safe when travelling, as well as for more details on our new health and safety measures.”
It has been reported that Delta Airlines will resume its flights from New York to Tel Aviv on 8 May, while British Airways, which had planned to restart some flights from 2 May, now plans to do so on 16 May.
Some companies, including Emirates, have said they will not resume flights until July at the earliest.
Over in Thailand, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) had a meeting with representatives from 20 airlines last week, and CAAT director Chula Sukmanop subsequently said that Thai AirAsia would resume domestic services on 1 May, while Thai Lion Air intends to wait to see whether the state of emergency would be extended from 30 April.
The pandemic has been shrouded in uncertainty from the beginning and there are no guarantees as to when travel, domestic or global, will resume. It is a waiting game for everyone. One thing is for certain: when flights resume, safety measures will be crucial.