Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said Thursday that while Dubai airports take appropriate measures to control costs, improve liquidity, facilitate cargo and return flights home for passengers, and prepare to activate facilities and services in a timely manner, the scheduled travel traffic through Dubai International Airport, the timing and speed Ultimate restoration of air traffic depends on the speed of development of a vaccine or treatment for the emerging coronavirus (Covid-19).
And Griffiths said, “The Covid-19 epidemic has a completely different nature from any previous crisis in terms of its impact on supply, demand, health security and the global economy as a whole. We are dealing with a monster, we must find a solution. And until there is a certain level of confidence in terms of Health, where people can travel without fear of a virus spreading or being infected, the situation in which we find ourselves is likely to continue. “
The “Covid-19” epidemic had a noticeable impact on passenger traffic through Dubai International Airport, the largest airport in the world in terms of international travelers, during the first quarter of this year, as the number of passengers reached a total of (17.8 million passengers), a decrease of 19.8% due to a decrease The request and the preparation of trips, in implementation of the decisions of the relevant authorities in the Emirates and the rest of the world to close the airspace.
“Until a medical solution is found, the industry will depend on bilateral agreements that enable the resumption of services,” Griffiths said. “We are gradually beginning to see some trust being built among the most reliable countries, where governments have acted satisfactorily enough and early enough to control the spread of The virus. “
“Since the UAE government has taken important and early steps to control the virus, we are optimistic that there will be opportunities for cooperation and coordination with other governments that have been equally effective, to operate air services among them. With millions around the world in isolation, there are “There is great enthusiasm to change the scene or to visit friends and relatives. Travel has become one of the most desirable commodities at the present time, however, the current inability to travel safely reduces this demand.”
Restore consumer confidence
Griffiths emphasized that Dubai airports will continue to ensure a safe and healthy airport environment by enabling physical separation, thermal examination, Covid 19 testing to support health authorities, and deep cleaning and sterilization to help alleviate customer concerns about plane travel and the resumption of scheduled services.
Griffiths explained: “In the short term, until we have a medical and technical solution, we will have strong measures. While we will all have to practice physical separation in the short term, the idea of separation as a permanent part of a society’s life has negative social and economic implications that it will not simply be And with human ingenuity in the medical and technological field, the combination of the two can bring us a preliminary solution to return to the social norms that we have enjoyed for centuries. “
“Although we are ready to resume travel, it is virtually impossible to predict any reliability as to how quickly passenger traffic will return or the time taken to return to previous levels,” added Dubai Airports CEO.
“We are looking forward to a time frame of 18 months to two years, but this largely depends on developing an effective treatment or vaccine and establishing bilateral arrangements between countries. So, while we cannot predict how quickly or when this will happen, I am optimistic that the innate demand when People realize that safe travel again will be very big, as the world will open again and the desire to travel will be stronger than in the past and Dubai airports and the entire aviation community will be ready for this stage. “
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