No one had thought that pandemic of this nature and scope
could strike the planet and put on hold all the transportation systems for
months, including the safest of them all- Air Transport. The people who lived
by air travel, whether by being a part of the industry or as customers who
loved to fly to different destinations around the world, had to show tremendous
restraint by being at their places all this while. While the pandemic is still
not out and might have passed the peak in many countries of the world, there is
always a lurking danger of its bouncing back. However, since the disease is
going to be there in future as well and we will have to adapt to live with it,
the countries are slowly opening up their transportation systems. To this end,
the international travel is also expected to be free from shackles of lockdown fast.
For the people of United States, most of the international air tickets were booked for Canada, Mexico, Caribbean and European destinations. Spain,
Italy, United Kingdom and other European countries have declared their
intention to open the international borders. However, they have refrained from
giving any specific dates in this respect. Some are planning to open in June,
some others in July. The European countries are one of the worst hit with the
pandemic and this is the reason for them being more cautious while opening.
They are most likely to open the borders to international flights from fellow
European countries at first. Then, slowly, to other countries. The lessons
learnt from this pandemic, that is of more and frequent cleaning and
sanitization and social distancing will have to be followed all through.
Canada is also planning to open its skies by June end,
though the land border will open at least 30 days later. Again, there is no
specific date announced. Everyone seems to be in a wait and watch mode.
Mexico and Caribbean are expected to open earlier, by early
or mid-June. This will give the much needed relief to vacation seekers who used
to flock Caribbean island resorts and Mexican beaches for total relaxation. How
many are going to bit the bullet remains to be seen?
All this news of opening up the international air travel gives
the tentative opening time period for different countries, though there is an
air of cautious optimism. We can expect all of these destinations to open up by
August.
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