KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 – Regional governments and aviation industry players must work together to set up new travel corridors within ASEAN and put in place solutions to make travellers feel safe and protected.
The aviation sector is one of the first sectors to feel the cruel blow of the COVID-19 pandemic, given travel restrictions imposed globally, leaving airplanes grounded for most of the year.
Honeywell ASEAN interim president Norm Gilsdorf said in order to resume intercountry travels, a travel corridor must be set up where two countries are able to establish what they needed on each end to make travelling safe.
“For example, in the Middle East, they have open corridors between the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
“This could be one of the solutions for intercountry travel resumption but the starting point is to make people feel comfortable to travel,” he told a virtual media briefing on its business operations in ASEAN here today.
Honeywell is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; turbochargers; and performance materials.
Commenting on the performance of the aviation industry as a whole, Gilsdorf said domestic traveling is currently ramping up and once these corridors open up, intercountry travel could also pick up.
“As the COVID-19 vaccine gets prevalent I see that travel will pick up on a month-by-month basis and by the way, the airlines are going to be very involved in the delivering the vaccines in various parts of the world
“I am sure travel demand will pick and we will see tourism begins to open up in ASEAN because it is an important part of the region economy,” he said.
On outlook, he said travel demand would likely pick up next year, however, it would likely take up to two years for the capacity to match last year’s level.
Source: BERNAMA