Nejat Kurt, Deputy General Manager of Operations at TAV Airports, looks forward to the aviation sector post-COVID-19, considering the actions undertaken by airports to ensure passenger safety and the role of contactless technology, which will remain key in regaining – and maintaining – passenger confidence.

Credit: TAV Airports – Skopje International Airport (SKP).

It soon became clear that this pandemic could not pass by without causing dramatic changes”

With 2020 having passed by in a flash, we were all convinced that it would be a period that would pass, and that we would soon comfortably get back to our travel routines and day-to-day activities. But it soon became clear that this pandemic could not pass by without causing dramatic changes to the spontaneous lifestyle that we have enjoyed for decades. We were not ready for the enormity of such challenges over such a long period of time, and we can still not even anticipate when this will all come to an end.

Looking to the future

We can view 2021 and the following years ahead from the below hypothetical perspective:

2021

During the course of 2021, we are going to effectively and efficiently understand and learn how to continue with our day-to-day activities, travels and journeys amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The availability and implementation of passenger antigen tests, rapid PCR tests and so on will, at some point, enable travel from one country to another. Since some countries have already implemented it as a requirement, we hope that this will quickly become common practice

By 2022, we can anticipate that vaccines are in place and rapid tests are still applicable and ongoing. With agreed and coordinated regulations and recommendations applied and in force, passengers are gradually regaining the necessary confidence to travel again. The year 2022 would most likely mark the start of a recovery period.

2023
The recovery rate would rapidly increase, especially throughout the 2023 summer season, when more and more travellers would feel comfortable to fly again, while visiting their favourite destination countries. During 2023, passenger tests are still applicable, while vaccine distribution and vaccine availability largely increased throughout the globe.

According to published information from Eurocontrol, we will see a full recovery by 2026.

While the world is rapidly adapting to the new normal, airports and airlines have implemented the necessary health and safety measures to ensure safety and comfort for their customers.

A new reality for passengers
A year ago, waiting in queues, gathering in groups and crowded areas and even being uncomfortable at security screening checkpoints was very common at airports. Back then, processing time was probably one of the main concerns for passengers.

With new habits established, passenger awareness has reached a different level”

With the pandemic in place, habits have changed and shifted in a completely different direction. Passengers are now avoiding crowded areas and queues. Nowadays, passengers are more observant, looking out for signage and guidance. Observation shows that duty free shopping notes a significant decline and that impulse shopping behaviour has vanished for now due to COVID-19. In addition, food and beverage courts are left empty.

With new habits established, passenger awareness has reached a different level. Namely, passengers are more inclined to use online check-in and self-check-in kiosks. Overall, they are more willing to use technology; even the unsecure traveller, who feels the need to have every single step of his journey pre-approved by any airport ID holder who is crossing his/her way. Now, even they are observing signage in more detail and are refrain from close contact and asking questions which they could figure out themselves.

What airports can do
Airports have demonstrated that they are ready to keep the pandemic under control, with all necessary standards, recommendations and requirements implemented and applied, ensuring that travellers can have a safe journey, from the airport building entrance, to boarding and accommodating their seats in the plane. These actions include:

Indicating the level of cleanliness, while making it visible, is a positive factor
Temperature screening points at the airport entrance (for both departing and arriving passengers)
Hand sanitisers are available across the airport, especially near and within the areas with frequently touched surfaces
There are signs and guidance, as well as public announcements and reminders for the passengers to wear protective masks, to keep physical distance and to frequently wash their hands
Only passengers are allowed to enter the terminal building, but not the ‘meeters and greeters’. This way, airports are providing confidence and comfort to both travellers and employees.
According to the 2020 ACI Global Traveller Survey Report, which was published by Airports Council International (ACI) in November 2020, the majority of travellers responded that the applied COVID-19 health and safety measures should remain in effect long after the decline of the coronavirus pandemic, especially:

ping all measures in place is certainly a confidence driver and a guarantee that the airport is a safe place for its customer, the passenger.

Employee wellbeing

It is not only signage and the option of a contactless experience that will help passengers to feel at ease, but the service provided by each individual working in the aviation system”

The most important part, which certainly plays a key role in regaining traveller confidence, are the airports and airlines’ employees. It is not only signage and the option of a contactless experience that will help passengers to feel at ease, but the service provided by each individual working in the aviation system. Employee focus has shifted from engagement to safety.

The frontline staff, or employees whose work duties require closer passenger contact, and those employees who are generally exposed throughout high passenger traffic must be ensured that they are safe at work. This can be achieved through effective communication and applied occupational health and safety standards. In order for them to be fully engaged, this motivation is a necessity. Employees must also be made aware that they should stay at home in case they have been exposed to, or have been in contact with, an infected person.

The airports and airlines’ top priority must be the health and safety of their employees, since, without their full engagement, it cannot be expected for passengers to feel comfortable and confident while travelling by air.

Another way to provide positivity throughout the process is to provide the necessary tools to airport and airline employees, such as ID badges showing their faces (since protective masks are covering their facial expressions).

Touchless or seamless travel

Airports have developed the possibility for passengers to check-in, drop-off their baggage and move from departure area to the boarding airside area with self-service available. Not all airports have reached such a level yet, but self-service is now required to transit from self-service to a contactless service. It is yet another concern of passengers to use touch screens, or self-service kiosks. A study in 2018 found that the dirtiest points in passengers’ journeys were not the toilets, but the check-in touchscreens. For that reason, it is important that hand sanitisers are available at locations where the passengers are required to interact with physical touch, or until touchless or contactless travel is in place.

source : https://www.internationalairportreview.com/article/154897/passenger-experience-expectations-covid-19/

source : https://www.internationalairportreview.com/article/154897/passenger-experience-expectations-covid-19/

The COVID-19 pandemic has refocused IT spending priorities for airlines and airports in 2020 as revenue plunged and the industry faced new health and operational requirements needed to keep flying.

Among the key findings from SITA’s 2020 Air Transport IT Insights, published today, was an accelerated investment in automated passenger processing focusing on touchless and mobile services. There was also a strong focus on virtual and remote IT services that allowed employees to work from home while ramping up communications with passengers. Cybersecurity and cloud services – that helped automate operations and drive new efficiencies – were key.

In 2020, SITA data showed that flight volumes plunged 44% year-on-year due to the pandemic. As a result of this impact on demand, IATA forecast the airline industry’s full-year loss at $118 billion.

David Lavorel, CEO SITA AT AIRPORTS & BORDERS, said: “The severe slowdown in 2020 forced the air transport industry to focus on driving new cost efficiencies. Adding to the pressure, airlines and airports had to rapidly incorporate new health measures such as touchless passenger processing and the handling of new health information and protocols, including PCR testing in many destinations. These efforts have been made in a market that continues to face rapid changes in air travel regulations that make operational planning volatile and last minute. 

“To solve these challenges, the industry has turned to technology and, in many cases, reprioritized where they invested in 2020. The good news is that airlines and airports were able to capitalize on existing trends to automation and have made significant strides in implementing new solutions that will bring new improvements for the passenger now and into the future.”   

Data and automation are key 

Making the check-in process completely touchless is now the main priority for airports and airlines to help protect passengers and staff, improve the passenger experience, and drive efficiency. 

Biometric technology is the focus for airport investment with 64% of airports aiming to roll out self-boarding gates using biometric & ID documentation by 2023, three times as many as in 2020. Airlines have doubled implementations and plan to double investment for self-boarding using biometric & ID documentation by 2023 (82%). 

Similarly, airlines are prioritizing a completely touchless check-in process, and most want mobile touchless payment options for all services provided. The majority (79%), is focused on enabling self-bag drop for passengers. All essential customer services will become contactless from booking to arrival, including automated lounge access and mobile delayed baggage reporting.  

Airline mobile applications for passenger services is a priority with nearly all (97%) of airlines having major programs and R&D in place by 2023. By 2023 the majority of airlines plan to send passengers real-time notifications on their mobile devices about their bags and plan to provide real-time bag-tracking information for staff.

Virtual IT services 

In response to the pandemic, most airlines and airports are investing more in in-house virtual and remote IT services allowing employees to work in a more agile and effective way while speeding up communications with passengers. Almost three-quarters of airports and airlines will continue to invest in data exchange, cloud services, cybersecurity, and business intelligence to accelerate their digital airport processes. This includes increasing services on passenger mobile apps and ensuring staff services are accessible via mobile or tablets. 

The full report, including methodology and charts, can be found here. 

source : https://www.sita.aero/pressroom/news-releases/covid-19-has-sharply-changed-the-it-spending-priorities-for-airports-and-airlines-in-2020/?mkt_tok=MDg5LVpTRS04NTcAAAF7cqa7eOojl_F1De6-LeJTEwRVAN0W6nM0ODg7WDR7B-yMEN67Ah-iJYoK6fXPKe_C04LS_Knplqj-TQM_7uCRseytQd6dWhtCWI4Wl97rhcPV

To plan for, and to experience the safest air travel experience during the coronavirus pandemic, customers require facts about airline and airport COVID-19 safety standards being delivered, not speculative or hypothetical assessments. It can be easy for an airport or airline to say what they plan to achieve in terms of COVID-19 safety, but one can only accurately judge the effectiveness of safety protocols when you have tried, tested and experienced them.

Airlines, airports, and lounge providers across the world have invested time and resources to ensure that the travel experience is safer for customers and staff during the coronavirus pandemic, and since mid-2020 Skytrax audit teams have travelled across the globe to evaluate these new hygiene, cleanliness, and safety protocols. The integrity of the certification process underlines why the programme is regarded as a global benchmark of COVID-19 Safety Rating for the air travel community worldwide.

The COVID-19 safety ratings investigate and evaluate the door-to-door air travel process, and identify any weak links in either the airport or airline health, hygiene and safety procedures.

“we are all only as safe as the weakest link in the chain”

Skytrax COVID-19 Safety Rating is based on professional and scientific investigation of the effectiveness and consistency of actual health and hygiene standards provided by airlines and airports, and the rating is only applied after a broad range of protocols have been observed and assessed for effectiveness and consistency. There are ratings of airport and airline COVID-19 safety standards that lack authority because they do not track real-world standards and simply look at “theoretical” safety protocols. Such checklists do not study the practical and successful implementation of measures and are nearly always self-certified by airlines and airports.

Aside from the simple factors of design, frequency, and placement of safety items such as signage, hand sanitisers and distancing markers, a questionnaire analysis cannot consider passenger behaviour and market demographics, staff behaviour and monitoring, and real aspects of social distancing such as spatial layouts and passenger flows. Across the airline experience, it is the actual application of safety protocols that is relevant, rather than simply considering expected or stated procedures.

A broken safety link: airport processing at Amsterdam Schiphol

Critically, it is the scale and consistency of measures that are so important to ensure that customers are fully conversant with both the local regulations and accepted international norms of COVID-19 safe behaviour. From the start of the COVID-19 research and analysis, Skytrax have observed that passenger attitudes vary greatly depending on the type of lockdown and restrictions in place in their home country. Airline and airports recognised as delivering some of the highest safety protocols have acknowledged such issues by reinforcing measures to manage passengers and apply more stringent controls, and the needs and importance for this vary from region to region.

“Some airports must improve COVID-19 safety standards”

Edward Plaisted of Skytrax said: “When we award a COVID-19 Safety Certification, we place not only our own reputation on the line, but the trust of air travellers around the world, and this is why we provide factual health, hygiene and safety ratings, and do not assume or speculate. As with any rating assessment that we apply, this does not take a one size fits all approach, and it is absolutely crucial to consider factors such as customer behavioural habits, airport terminal size and infrastructure, airline network and markets, local technology and supply chains, and all other relevant issues to ensure we have thoroughly examined standards.”

While vaccination programmes gather pace in some regions, the global inconsistency of the rollout means measures undertaken to reduce the spread of coronavirus are likely to remain in place for at least 12-18 months, and in terms of large scale travel recovery we are all only as safe as the weakest link in the chain in respect to COVID-19. It is therefore critical for air travel providers to be delivering robust, consistent, and enforceable measures to ensure the well-being of customers and staff.

COVID-19 safe environment: Hamad International Airport, Doha

Consistency of safe travel protocols across both the airport and onboard experience is more essential than ever, and this is where Skytrax have seen the greatest variances that need to be improved. The safety assurance benefits in having maximum control of both areas is highlighted by the 5-Star COVID-19 Safety Ratings achieved by Qatar Airways and their hub at Hamad International Airport in Doha, both delivering a safe and seamless travel experience.

During the first stages of COVID-19 airport safety analysis, Skytrax have noted that some airport “stated” safety protocols are not being achieved in the “actual” standards provided to customers, and it is this divide that causes concern about airports failing to deliver upon their health and safety assurances. Discipline, control and consistency are key factors if a recovery in air travel is to truly offer travellers a safe and trustworthy environment. Overpromising and under-delivering can destroy the reputation of the industry in its quest to rebuild customer confidence in air travel, and this is why Skytrax state that it is critical for the necessary hands-on assessment to be applied in COVID-19 safety rating.

Another example where COVID-19 safety procedures are being well enforced is Rome Fiumicino Airport, with effective signage, covid guidance and cleanliness standards. In high movement areas, the airport has an in-house Bio-Safety Team of 40 staff that seek to control social distancing and ensure face mask use compliance.

Amongst major airlines, Air France, British Airways, Emirates and Lufthansa are all currently Certified with the 4-Star COVID-19 Safety Rating, and the inclusion of Ryanair in this rating group demonstrates that the higher Covid ratings are not limited to full-service carriers only. The health, hygiene and safety features that Skytrax investigate relate to air travel as a whole and how successful an airline is at delivering Covid safety, whether flying in first-class or with a low-cost airline.

“Accepting that many of the safety protocols and procedures introduced during COVID-19 are going to be with us for years rather than months, we are now seeing further improvements to COVID-19 safety measures by some of these airlines and I hope to see one or two of them upgraded to the highest 5-Star COVID-19 Safety Rating in the next few months,” added Edward Plaisted.

The first COVID-19 Safety Ratings for airlines in Asia and North America are expected to be announced by April 2021.

source : https://skytraxratings.com/the-facts-behind-airline-and-airport-covid-19-safety-performance