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Incoming baggage may need to be divided, either across numerous belts or from other flights arriving at the same time. Plane turnaround times will be increased to allow for more thorough cleaning. All of this adds to the operational and financial constraints that already exist in the COVID-19 context.<br>
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Consider a typical busy airport scenario in February: crowded check-ins; travellers sitting shoulder-to-shoulder at gate lounges; squeezing crowds at luggage carousels, delayed airport flight schedule, hugs and handshakes at arrival halls. In such a short period of time, so much has changed. Airport terminals have gone from lively centers of activity to eerily vacant locations due to the rapid spread of COVID-19.
However, since infection peaks appear to be dissipating, governments will switch their attention to reviving the economy. The capacity of the airline industry to demonstrate that it can enable adequate social-distancing will be a key element in how quickly lockout rules are lifted.
The Changed Scenario Minding the gap Airports are anticipating that as economic activity picks up, travellers will return to the skies fast. Confidence, on the other hand, will have to be earned. Operators have additional hurdles in keeping people apart and preventing terminals from becoming possible viral breeding sites now that social distance is our principal weapon against COVID-19 for the foreseeable future.
The airport's ability to predict and measure passenger movement and densities – when they arrive, where they stay, and how they choose to cluster – and use that information to control people flow and distribution will be key to its success. Building community trust will require timely communication. Passengers will want confirmation that airports are taking the necessary precautions because their health and safety may be at risk. Social distancing – terminal wide Safe passenger separation will be dependent on operators' abilities to not only understand passenger density across the terminal in real time, but also to take proactive measures to avoid crowding. Airports can accomplish this in a variety of ways, using the optimum combination of data capturing technologies, analytics, and decision metrics to support their architecture, budget, and operational requirements.
Safer, smaller queuesQueuesat departure checkpoints will be unavoidable once people resume flying. What's less well-known is how airports will enforce social segregation without causing long queues. One method is to set a limit on how many people can enter checkpoint areas; the fewer people that enter, the shorter the line. This can be accomplished by connecting occupancy sensors to airport screens, which will alert travellers when lines are large enough to enter the area and which queue they should join. Once passengers are in line, video sensors can assess the average distance between them and issue alerts if passenger density thresholds are exceeded, or automatically reroute and redistribute people to various lines and checkpoints.
Different operational context It isn't just passenger crowding and flows that will necessitate a new approach. A major shift in how airports allocate gates, baggage carousels, and manage turnarounds will be required. To maximize separation while accommodating flight volume, they will need to be more careful about how gate allocations are distributed. Incoming baggage may need to be divided, either across numerous belts or from other flights arriving at the same time. Plane turnaround times will be increased to allow for more thorough cleaning. All of this adds to the operational and financial constraints that already exist in the COVID-19 context.
