Departing from COVID: A flight path to recovery and reform of the aviation sector

Executive summary

It wasn’t long ago that airports were diverse and lively businesses. From packed check-in desks, to well-stocked retail concessions and queues at the departure gates.

As the world was hit by COVID-19, airline travel reduced dramatically almost overnight with international routes not expected to fully reopen for at least another 12 months. The progression and recovery for airports from COVID-19 will occur in stages.

Airports and airlines have a joint mission to reignite international travel and restore passenger confidence – encouraging them back to travel and making them safe.

This will require changes to the physical layout of the airport and aircraft, as well as the operational processes of booking and checking in, of navigating through screening and security.

Depending on airport specifics, some industry experts have calculated that between 70 and 100 different areas in the passenger journey are expected to either change or be introduced from scratch, to restore confidence in flying.

What is the Aurecon International model?

Aurecon has modelled a gradual, flexible and incremental evolution of the eventual reopening of international travel in the Australian airport context. This includes the setting up of systems and processes to keep passengers and staff safe.

There is an opportunity to bring a completely new experience to the passenger and become an airport that reshapes its post COVID-19 business as user-centric.

Key observations

The progression and recovery for airports from COVID-19 will occur in stages. This white paper is focused on Stages 2, 3 and 4 in Figure 1, outlining recommendations for reform of the aviation sector in the following sections: Pathway to ‘new normal’, Modifications to service, Considerations for recovery.

Figure 1: The stages of transition through and out of COVID-19.

Pathway to ‘new normal’

Airports will need strategies for their layout and operations to transition through the staged reopening of international travel.

‘New normal’ for Australian airports is the introduction of measures that make passengers feel comfortable and safe. That airports can provide assurity to governments that passengers can be detected and traced, and that the health and control systems can cope.

Key points

• At each stage, airports need to be adaptable and flexible, to respond quickly to public health advice, passenger needs and international safe-zone routes.
• International travel could lag domestic travel return by up to two years. This will depend on the industry’s ability to quickly accommodate the safe facilitation of travellers through airports and on aircraft.
• Recovery will require unprecedented changes to the end-to-end passenger journey, across three categories; Principal I: Setting up operational systems and physical infrastructure to keep passengers and staff safe, Principal II: Contactless systems for check-in, security, customs, airport facilities and aircraft, Principal III: Human behaviour – we will have to learn how to travel again in the post COVID-19 world.

Modifications to service

We need to plot a robust recovery and reform pathway to reignite international travel. From an airport asset perspective, planning these changes needs to start now.

Key points

• If airports and airlines present a united front and propose end-to-end passenger journey solutions at airports, governments are more likely to reopen international borders.
• Physical layout changes to adhere to social distancing and health screening requirements should be empathetically designed with the passenger in mind. Airports may be able to reorganise their physical spaces to transition through the recovery period without needing to significantly expand their building envelope.
• An airport’s concept of operations (ConOps) will be vital for efficient operation in a coronavirus-constrained world.

Figure 2: Airport considerations to handle increased health screening.

Considerations for recovery

Insights in our white paper provide a layered approach of ideas for airports and airlines to safeguard public health, while offering a practical approach for a gradual restarting of operations. This is key to restoring passenger confidence so that the benefits of safely reigniting international travel can be realised.

Key points

• Planning operational and physical layout changes needs to start now, to be ready for passengers when international borders reopen.
• Passengers will need to become acquainted with new check-in, security and customs procedures, and accept health and screening processes.
• There is an opportunity to bring a completely new experience to the passenger and become an airport that reshapes its post COVID-19 business as passenger-centric.
• Airports should create a Digital Twin of terminal buildings. Digital scenario planning helps to better understand operational constraints, and passenger movements and experiences.
• Contactless processes will have their day. This includes check-in, bag drop, security, customs and boarding. The use of autonomous equipment, such as cleaning robots, is likely to be introduced.

Reigniting international travel

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how interconnected the world is and how susceptible we are to disruption on a global scale.

Deliberate, yet urgent decision-making will position airports to transition out of COVID-19 and into the ‘new normal’ stage. This will take collaboration between airports, airlines, industry and governments to reignite international travel and open Australian airports. We hope it will be a long-term trend that benefits passengers and the whole industry.

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Contributing author & reviewer: Erik Kriel