Which Countries Plan to Reopen Their Borders For International Flights?

 

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.

Are Cheap International Flights Going to Be Just Dreams?

Covid 19 is a lifestyle changing problem. No longer will the passengers feel all that free to travel without has hesitation on airlines. This impact will also be felt by airlines flying on international sectors. The demand is expected to remain low as the business sentiment is not likely to be strong. If we divide international travel into categories of leisure and business, it is quite clear that the leisure travel will see a considerable decline in years to come. The business travel will also see a subdued demand as face-to-face interactions will be avoided and business sentiment will take some time to recover across the world.

Faced with lack of demand on both these counts in short to medium term, airlines will not be able to earn much from passengers. Therefore, their strategy of offering cheap international flights might not be all that fruitful. The only purpose it can serve will be to bring back confidence among business travelers who might want to fly on reduced fares but this will be self-defeating if the numbers do not add up to much.  

Another factor which can be looked into while examining international travel in future is most traveled regions from USA. Quite interestingly, Canada, Europe and Central and South America are the major regions. Among these Europe is the most affected due to this outbreak. Therefore, travel to this region is likely see a greater decline in short to medium term than in other regions.

International flight tickets to these regions are not likely to be cheaper beyond a limited period of time. This time period will be a testing period wherein airline will see whether the international traffic picks up or not. If this does not pick up, then the prices are expected to rise in medium term.

One significant intervention which can save the day for not just travel but other sectors of economy as well is the invention of a vaccine. With research institutes putting all resources at command to arrive at a vaccine, it is expected to arrive in market sooner than later.