peterfe Posted April 25, 2020 Posted April 25, 2020 I have a friend in the UK who wants to come back here in August. I think it's very much touch and go whether that will be possible. It will be interesting to follow developments in other countries - Australia and New Zealand both have very good-looking corona graphs and are apparently considering resuming flights between the two countries. South Korea will soon resume domestic tourism and later international tourism, it seems. And the EU is soon to have talks about how to get air travel going again. WHEN flights will start again is one question, but the other big one is HOW. Nobody minds having their temperature checked and standing 1-2 metres from others, but it would be a big drag if you have to have two weeks' quarantine in the country you visit and another two weeks in the Philippines when you get back! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum Support Tommy T. Posted April 25, 2020 Forum Support Posted April 25, 2020 18 minutes ago, peterfe said: WHEN flights will start again is one question, but the other big one is HOW. Nobody minds having their temperature checked and standing 1-2 metres from others, but it would be a big drag if you have to have two weeks' quarantine in the country you visit and another two weeks in the Philippines when you get back! Very true, Peter... But it would be a greater drag to die now too? Just saying... Right now I would not step within a km of an airport, much less get on a plane to fly anywhere. Maybe this is just natural paranoia because I am a "senior citizen?" Well, I won't make excuses for that but just accept my fears and follow them... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffH Posted April 25, 2020 Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) Australia are talking about opening up domestic travel in June (and maybe limited international travel to and from New Zealand). With the low rates of active cases here and in New Zealand I think that it will be pretty safe by then. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't do it for a holiday but if family over in Western Australia were sick or injured I'd consider going via air. But I'd be a lot more concerned if I was considering travelling via (for example) Kuala Lumpur to Manila (not that that is an option in the near future, the Aussie government are talking september at the earliest for 'international' travel to start back up on a limited basis). Edited April 25, 2020 by GeoffH 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum Support scott h Posted April 25, 2020 Forum Support Posted April 25, 2020 37 minutes ago, peterfe said: WHEN flights will start again Another question would be that if you arrive in the country will you be on a 14 day lock down. I suppose it depends on the status of where you are coming from 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterfe Posted April 25, 2020 Author Posted April 25, 2020 18 minutes ago, Tommy T. said: Very true, Peter... But it would be a greater drag to die now too? Just saying... Right now I would not step within a km of an airport, much less get on a plane to fly anywhere. I agree entirely - I'm also a senior citizen and not exactly itching to get on a plane, I just think it will be interesting to follow developments from the safety of my home in an area with no recorded cases. Next trip is planned for July 2021. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterfe Posted April 25, 2020 Author Posted April 25, 2020 Some domestic flights in Thailand are set to resume, and here are the measures to be implemented (I imagine we can expect much the same in the Philippines): "They included designating empty seats in each row to keep passengers a fair distance from one another, while no food or drink is to be served during flights either. On flights of 90 minutes or longer, the whole row at the back of an aircraft must be left vacant and reserved for passengers who display flu-like symptoms. Passengers must bring their own face masks to wear on an aircraft but are barred from bringing their own food to eat on board. Cabin crew must also wear face masks, gloves and a face shield for the duration of a flight. On the ground, social distancing must be practised at check-in as well, Mr Chula said." Well, I don't think I'd miss the food served on the Cebu-Manila flights, but I wonder how they'll solve that problem on a 12-hour flight to Europe? Good to see that you're (apparently) allowed to bring your own bottle of water (if you can buy one after the security check!). Are we going to have to pay twice as much for a ticket when they only use half the seats? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AusExpat Posted April 25, 2020 Posted April 25, 2020 22 minutes ago, peterfe said: Some domestic flights in Thailand are set to resume, and here are the measures to be implemented (I imagine we can expect much the same in the Philippines): "They included designating empty seats in each row to keep passengers a fair distance from one another, while no food or drink is to be served during flights either. On flights of 90 minutes or longer, the whole row at the back of an aircraft must be left vacant and reserved for passengers who display flu-like symptoms. Passengers must bring their own face masks to wear on an aircraft but are barred from bringing their own food to eat on board. Cabin crew must also wear face masks, gloves and a face shield for the duration of a flight. On the ground, social distancing must be practised at check-in as well, Mr Chula said." Well, I don't think I'd miss the food served on the Cebu-Manila flights, but I wonder how they'll solve that problem on a 12-hour flight to Europe? Good to see that you're (apparently) allowed to bring your own bottle of water (if you can buy one after the security check!). Are we going to have to pay twice as much for a ticket when they only use half the seats? Wonder if they are going allow us to smoke on flights again seeing as it has a demonstrated protective effect against CV? Hay! just being practical ;) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterfe Posted April 26, 2020 Author Posted April 26, 2020 Wow, I didn't know that - I haven't smoked since I was eleven, but maybe I should start again now... Even if you could get straight back to the Philippines, there are almost no countries in the world that would let you in right now. Hong Kong is an exception, though. If you fancy spending two weeks in quarantine in an expensive hotel, your prize at the end of it would be to move freely around Hong Kong (unless you got caught up in clashes between pro-democracy and pro-Beijing supporters, of course). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post graham59 Posted April 26, 2020 Popular Post Posted April 26, 2020 Perhaps safer in one of the outside seats now ? . 1 2 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffH Posted April 26, 2020 Posted April 26, 2020 On 4/25/2020 at 6:38 PM, peterfe said: Are we going to have to pay twice as much for a ticket when they only use half the seats? With a 3 seat to a row plane (no matter if it is single aisle and 2 rows or double aisle and 3 rows) it would be carrying 2/3rds of the normal number of passengers. That would suggest that 2/3rds of the people have to carry 3/3rds of the cost which means a 2 to 3 increase or 50% more just to account for lower passenger numbers. However the plane should use less jet A1 fuel because it's less heavily loaded. But they're probably going to be making less flights so the fixed costs like airport access and staff wages and plane leases will be higher per flight. Bottom line... it could be any amount and it will be impossible to say if they're ripping us off or not. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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