There is no doubt that the current Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic will cast a shadow on every aspect of travel and airports are taking note, just look at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Added to its offerings are personal protection equipment (PPE) vending machines.
These machines, where travelers can purchase items including gloves and hand sanitizer, in McCarran International Airport are just one of the many features and procedures being added to airports and airlines across the country with the hope of staying safe in a post-COVID-19 world.
According to SimpliFlying, an airline marketing firm, over 70 areas in the passenger journey will change to ensure sanitized travel.
Required face masks are just the beginning. Disinfection tunnels and thermal scans will be part of the airport experience as well, the firm predicts. Hong Kong International Airport has already started testing a full-body disinfection and sanitization booth.
The rapid 30-minute, turn-around times that airlines have been trying to shorten even more will be become a thing of the past. In the new age of sanitized travel, every aircraft, after every flight, will have to be deep cleaned, fogged and possibly sterilized with UV lights or other new technologies. Doing it overnight is the only possibility.
In the airport, travelers will have touchless options for checking in. TSA lines will change in a post-COVID-19 world. There are those who predict appointments will be necessary to go through security screening.
Airports will be cleaned and disinfected more than ever before and in some innovative ways. The Hong Kong International Airport has also employed the services of sanitizing robots. Called Intelligent Sterilization Robots, they are equipped with ultraviolet light sterilizers and air sterilizers and move around autonomously. They sterilize up to 99.99 percent of bacteria in its vicinity in just 10 minutes.
For those coming into the U.S. from overseas, SimpliFlying predicts that some type of immunity passport will be necessary to enter. Temperature screening and possibly blood tests for COVID-19 are possible.
For the full rundown of the 70 different areas of the passenger journey that are expected to change, click here.
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