It”s no secret that the airline sector has been hit arduous by the pandemic with flights grounded for months on finish and hundreds of jobs misplaced.
Journey analyst Simon Calder informed Euronews’ The Trade programme that for the final 15 months “skies have been as empty as the common workplace”, with airways below the impression that journey is not going to get again to pre-pandemic ranges for maybe 4 to 5 years.
“For any airline, the subsequent yr goes to be important and painful,” he provides.
Regardless of the difficulties introduced by the pandemic – journey bans and borders closing down, amongst different issues – Qatar Airways has by no means stopped flying.
“We linked 3.1 million individuals within the preliminary levels of the lockdown of the pandemic to ship them safely to their family members. We by no means shut the hub. Right this moment we’re the worldwide connector for the individuals,” the airline group’s chief govt, Akbar Al Baker, informed The Trade.
A part of Qatar Airways’ success all through the pandemic has been its base, Hamad worldwide airport. It is likely one of the most interconnecting hubs throughout the globe with 60% of the world’s inhabitants is inside an 8-hour flight of Qatar.
COVID security requirements
Hamad Worldwide is the primary and solely airport within the Center East and Asia to be awarded a Skytrax 5-star COVID-19 airport security ranking.
Superior know-how is getting used within the battle towards COVID with a disinfectant robotic releasing concentrations of ultraviolet C gentle in excessive visitors zones to lower viruses and micro organism.
Sensible screening helmets examine all passengers utilizing infra-red thermal imaging, synthetic intelligence and augmented actuality.
The airport and its employees aren’t the one ones enjoying a job in preserving the world COVID secure. All travellers should current their cellular well being software to the airport’s totally vaccinated personnel.
Onboard a UV cabin system kills pathogens and air filtration programs with HEPA filters take away virtually 100% of viral and bacterial contaminants from recirculated air.
Al Baker believes that it is vital for everybody to grasp that the impression of COVID will likely be round for some time and other people want to regulate their life-style, which is strictly what he says Qatar Airways and Hamad worldwide airport have completed.
Maintaining with adjustments
However the airline is not going to cease there. Based on Al Baker, the important thing to success for any enterprise is taking dangers and being decisive. “We’ve got to utterly carry on revising our working methods and our working sample as a result of day by day with quick discover international locations are closing their airports and shutting their borders.”
It is arduous to think about how any firm or trade may have ready for the worldwide well being disaster, however Qatar Airways and Hamad Worldwide Airport have efficiently managed to maintain operations working.
