SEOUL – International airlines this week are at the early stages of resuming international flights amid signs of an improvement in containing the spread of the coronavirus.
Korean Air said on Thursday (7 May) that it will be restarting dozens of international routes in June.
The airline, South Korea’s largest by sales, plans to resume flights on 19 international routes to “offset the sharp decline in passenger travel demand with an increased demand for cargo deliveries”.
The routes include Washington, DC, Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, Frankfurt, Singapore, Beijing and Kuala Lumpur, the company said in a statement.
Currently, Korean Air operates 55 flights a week to 13 international routes, a mere fraction of its network of over 900 flights on 110 long-haul routes before the impact of the coronavirus.
By June, the airline hopes to reinstate 146 flights on 32 international routes. The airline was forced to suspend over 90% of its flights on international routes since late-March, as countries began closing their borders to international visitors.
Korean Air has asked 70% of its 20,000-strong workforce to take paid leave for six months starting Thursday, and has begun the process of selling non-core assets to secure operating costs.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) is set to resume regular passenger flights on 16 May contingent on factors such as status of community quarantine in certain areas, government imposed travel restrictions, passenger demand, and health situation in the countries the airline serves.
PAL is imposing a mandatory face mask policy where all passengers and customers will have to wear face masks at all times at the airport premises, aircraft, and ticketing offices. Thermal temperature checks will be required as well as social distancing between each person.
The airline also requests all passengers to arrive three hours before departure time for domestic flights and four hours for international travellers for safety and health checks.
For carry-on luggage, a maximum weight of only 2kg is allowed inside the cabin of the aircraft. However, each passenger will get an extra 5kg of free baggage allowance. Passengers may also carry up to 10 100ml bottles of sanitizers with 70% alcohol.
Meanwhile, Qatar Airways said it will begin, in phases, to “expand its network in line with passenger demand evolution and the expected relaxation of entry restrictions around the world”.
The gradual expansion will focus on adding connections between its hub in Doha to other hubs of its partner airlines, including London, Chicago, Dallas and Hong Kong as well as key cities such as Madrid and Mumbai.
This month, Qatar intends to grow its network from the current 30 destinations to more than 50, resuming services to cities such as Manila, Amman, and Nairobi.
By end-June, Qatar Airways intends to operate flights to 80 destinations, including 23 in Europe, four in the Americas, 20 in the Middle East/Africa and 33 in Asia Pacific. Many cities will be served with a strong schedule with daily or more frequencies.
However, Qatar Airways has warned that it will be making significant cuts to its global workforce, including a downsizing of cabin crew. It has almost 50,000 employees.
According to an internal communication seen by Reuters, the airline has to “face a new reality”. The memo said that impacted employees will be paid according to their contracts, along with any overtime due.