- Welcome back, guys.
So I want to share with you
five ways commercial air travel has changed
since the COVID pandemic.
(aeroplane whirs)
(hose whooshes)
(thermometer beeps)
(arrow whooshes)
(dramatic instrumental music)
First of all, we are saying goodbye
to four-engine aeroplanes ,
such as the A380 and 747, and even A340.
And because of that, there will be less, or literally,
no more first-class flying available.
Thirdly, there is a stronger than ever emphasise
on aeroplane cleanliness and hygiene level.
As a result of that, the in-flight meal service
has changed and significantly impact.
And after all, (bell dings)
I think flying will become a necessity.
It won't be as fun as before anymore.
(air whooshes) (upbeat instrumental music)
So perhaps the biggest area got impacted
is the in-flight service delivery, the in-flight meals.
The buzzword for new in-flight catering standard
is sealed and wrapped.
So everything is packed, prepackaged,
and try to be less contactable.
So I have flown the U.S. on domestic flight recently.
Now you will get a snack pack with a bottle of water
with a sanitising wipe and a snack
in U.S. domestic economy class.
In first class, you used to get a meal tray
with a hot entree, but this is no longer the case.
You will receive a cold prepackaged snack box, as well.
So definitely, there's a lot of downgrade.
The airlines are doing this by saying,
"We want to remove a lot of touch points and contact points
"between passenger and flight attendants."
So the flight attendants won't heat up the meal.
Instead everything will be preloaded and prepackaged,
and everything will be sealed and wrapped
and directly give out to the passenger.
And then once the passenger finished,
they just throw it into the garbage bag directly.
For domestic flight, you can forget about hot towel service,
your champagne flutes, or coffee mugs.
In fact, mostly the airlines are just serving water.
However, airlines are actually encourage passengers
to bring their own food onboard.
So now for international long-haul flights,
the catering standard varies a lot.
We have seen British Airways came out
with only in-flight boxes meals.
Only the first class get a hot meal.
Business class, economy, and premium economy
all get a prepackaged box with cold meal.
So I don't get the logic why first class gets a hot meal
and premium economy, economy, business don't get a hot meal.
And also, premium economy and economy's get the same box,
as well, which is quite disappointing.
The same goes with Turkish Airlines.
You only get cold meal, cold mase, and a snack pack
as a second meal, as well.
So you know, this is a drastic change
from what flight catering used to be.
And fortunately, there are also quite lots of airlines
still maintaining good level of service.
Singapore Airlines, for example,
they came out in saying that, "For all the long-haul flights
"we consolidate all our dishes like the saute,
"the fruits, the cheese, all on one plate
"with a hot entree."
Except the flight to Southeast Asia and China
will be serving a snack bag.
Another great carrier maintaining the same
in-flight meals standards is Japan's ANA.
They still serve the same food,
the only difference is the food is served
with covers on top.
The breads are individually wrapped and sealed.
This is part of the ANA care promise,
which is their hygiene protocols.
For airline for the Middle East, like Emirates and Qatar,
they came out in saying,
"We're pretty much maintaining the same standard
"in first and business class.
"we have a single-use menu.
"We have disposable towelettes.
"And then any flights over one and a half hour
"will get hot meal service for economy class.
"Any flight over two and a half hour
"will still get hot meal service."
So I know I have lots of fans and frequent flyer
who fly on Emirates.
There's a website right now you can check on what service
will be provided on your flights.
What I found out is there's no more onboard bar
at the back of the A380 or in front of the Triple Seven,
and there's also showers not available,
but however the chauffeur-drive remains available.
For Etihad, it's pretty much the same.
I've seen pictures.
They're still maintaining the same in all classes
with the meals.
(air whooshes) (upbeat instrumental music)
You probably can see aeroplanes are actually
cleaner than ever in service right now.
All the airlines in the world has put in a lot of effort
and emphasise on the cleanliness to win the confidence back
for the traveller to fly again.
Lots of airline now are producing hygiene kits,
just like amenity kits,
but inside a hygiene kits, or hygiene box,
they will have a glove, they'll have a mask,
they'll have sanitising wipes for the passenger
to remain clean during their journey.
(aeroplane whirs)
(flight attendant speaks in a foreign language)
(upbeat instrumental music)
Airline flight Emirates is adding
extra flight attendant on board.
Their main duty is keeping the toilet constantly clean,
every 90 minute to ensure the hygiene is onboard.
All the flight attendant you saw right now
are dressed in gowns and PPEs,
also in glasses and a mask.
And then the image is all different while flying now.
Abu Dhabi based Etihad has introduced wellness ambassadors
at the Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Their role is giving vital information to passengers
regarding health and safety during travel.
They also have wellness ambassadors onboard a flight
sharing advice on travel well-being
and sanitization measures being implemented
throughout the journey.
The trend of future travel will become more contactless
at every point of your journey.
If you don't wear a mask, then you can't fly.
So it's social distancing really works in the air?
I don't know.
The airlines coming out and debate that social distancing
doesn't work the same way in the air
as it works on the ground
because there's limited room there.
A lots of airline doesn't want to block
their middle seats out
and then that would really hurt their bottom line,
especially during a survival time like this.
(upbeat instrumental music)
Now there is some good news, as well.
There are now over 50,000 commercial aeroplanes flying
the sky since June 12th, according to Flightradar24.
And that has rebounded since the April low
of about 23,000.
In normal time, we would expect about
120,000 commercial air flights in a day.
So right now, there are literally no A380 flying in the sky.
Sounds really ridiculous, isn't it?
Air France has recently just came out to say,
"We're retiring the whole A380 fleets completely."
A lots of airline like Qatar, Lufthansa,
previously used lots of A380.
They say there's no demand for such big aeroplane.
And also, KOM Qantas has just retired the 747
ahead of the retirement schedule
because of lack of demand.
- [Reporter] This is the last scheduled
Qantas international flight landing here
until normal operations resume.
It is also likely to be the last
Qantas 747 commercial flight.
They were supposed to be wrapped up at the end of the year
but that date has now been brought forward
because of the coronavirus crisis.
- So the COVID-19 turn out to be
aviation's biggest farewell party.
Airlines are in survival mode.
They're actually conserving cash and their trying to use
more fuel-efficient aeroplane like the 787 or the A350.
As a NAF geek, we love four-engine aeroplane
because it's so unique but it's so sad to see
they got to retire prematurely
before we can fly them once more.
Emirates has over 130 A380,
but now they're only using the Triple Seven smaller planes.
The good news is that from 15 July,
they will again using A380 on their flights
to London and Paris, one flight a day.
(upbeat instrumental music)
So with the removal of the A380 and 747 in airline service,
first class might become a thing of the past.
So you see airline are using smaller planes
like 787 and 350.
Typically, they don't have first class, right.
And airlines like Etihad, they has come out saying,
"We are removing first class inventory completely
"from our system in 2020."
That just says the demand of first class
are really low right now.
So out of all this, what I've learned
is that flying has become a necessity
for those who need it to travel.
It is not for fun anymore, not for pleasure anymore
because there aren't much.
I recently flew in the U.S.
and I was wearing a mask when I fly.
I notice everybody's practise social distancing
away from every other passenger,
so everybody's sitting away from each other
and then you see everybody's wearing mask.
It's very quiet during the whole flight.
You hardly hear any laughter or any chatter.
Everybody's avoiding direct contact with each other.
So it's become a very sombre experience, actually.
And also think about international travel requirement
has changed drastically since the pandemic.
A lot of country now require you to have a travel insurance.
They require you to have a COVID-19 test taken
before the flights.
And when you arrive, there's lots of paperwork to deal with.
You have to check your body temperature
and taking another COVID-19 test,
and even self-isolate for 14 days,
which all makes travel less fun, more work, and less doable.
I know a lot of these measures are not that popular
and not desirable for myself
and for lots of frequent traveller like you and me.
We're expecting the good old days to return
but I have a fear and I fear may become true, as well,
but I think we just have to get used to.
This might become the new norm of air travel in the future.
Aviation is forever changing and forever adapting.
I'm looking forward to share with you
all the future development.
Thank you so much for watching today.
(aeroplane whirs)
(dramatic instrumental music)
(logo whooshes)
(logo dings)
(logo pops)