Jabbed to travel

Vaccination and other safety-related initiatives have become an integral part of the reopening of travel including the comeback of aviation

Vaccination has brought about more than just a ray of hope to the world of travel. Perhaps never in history was a vaccine created with the speed and precision as it did for Covid-19. It was the need of the hour and several pharmaceutical giants jumped into the opportunity, hoping to make the globe a safer place whilst making unimaginable revenue. e pharmaceutical companies such Moderna, P zer, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson announced their vaccines consecutively one a er the other, and the race for countries to source vaccines for their citizens began. Some countries managed to get the vials soon, while others are still falling behind.

Airlines were the rst to announce that vaccination would become an integral part of their recovery plan. Here are the various initiatives adopted by global airlines to integrate vaccination into their recovery plan.

ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS

It was announced in June that All Nippon Airways actively began vaccinating its pilots and cabin attendants ying on international ights against Covid-19. e Japan-based airline became one of the rst companies to launch workplace vaccinations in Japan. e airline had then announced that it planned to increase its daily vaccination capacity to about 300 to eventually cover all its 46,500 employees. ana.co.jp

CATHAY PACIFIC

To ensure their employees are vaccinated on priority, the Hong Kong-based Cathay Paci c is proactively undertaking several vaccination programmes. In April, the airline launched the “Arm up, let’s fly again!” campaign to build awareness about the importance of getting vaccinated as early as possible. Other initiatives by e Cathay Paci c Group includes setting up vaccination camps for its employees (speci cally in Hong Kong), creating a dedicated page regarding vaccination on its internal platform where they provided insights on the di erent vaccinations programmes and answered general and speci c vaccination queries. Also, to determine whether employees are physically suitable for vaccination, the group organised a free prevaccination medical assessment. cathaypacific.com

INDIGO

Indigo has also showcased commitment towards the vaccination of its entire workforce, including its subsidiary Agile. e India-based low-cost carrier is sponsoring vaccination for all its employees and facilitating it for their families as well. As of now, the airline has completed the rst dose of vaccination for almost 100 per cent of its employees. It has also initiated the second dose and have been completed for around 25 per cent employees. e airline is targeting to achieve 90 per cent completion for both vaccination doses by end of August. To encourage vaccination among general public, Indigo also launched the Vaxi Fare featuring 10 per cent discount on the base fare to customers who have been vaccinated against Covid-19. goindigo.in

EMIRATES

Emirates was among the rst few transport and air services organisations in the world to o er employees the option to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Emirates rolled out Covid-19 vaccination programmes for its UAE-based workforce in coordination with the Dubai Health Authority and the Ministry of Health and Prevention. In February, the airline operated its rst ight serviced by fully vaccinated frontline teams across all customer touchpoints. In April, the full-service carrier operated a special ight marking the UAE vaccination milestone. e Emirates ight EK2021 carried close to 400 fully vaccinated customers onboard. e ight was also supported by fully vaccinated teams across the aviation ecosystem, from onboard crew to ground sta . emirates.com

LUFTHANSA

In June, Lu hansa started vaccination of employees in Germany. The initial focus was on the sta who have personal contact with customers, such as aircra crews or employees at the stations. The airline is also working to allow German customers to access their vaccination certi cates directly from its app. Lu hansa Cargo, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lu hansa was among the leading airlines to sign an agreement with UNICEF to support the prioritisation of delivery of Covid-19 vaccines, essential medicines, medical devices and other critical supplies. Even before the global distributions of vaccines started, a specially-assembled task force was inducted to prepare a variety of possible transport scenarios. lufihansagroup.com

QATAR AIRWAYS

Demonstrating its readiness for the next phase of global travel, Qatar Airways has been setting high standards of safety and customer service. e ag carrier of Qatar has expanded the IATA Travel Pass trial, becoming the rst airline to integrate vaccination certi cates in the “Digital Passport” mobile app. This will enable travellers to Doha to share their vaccination certi cate via their mobile with the airline and authorities in a more secure and seamless way. With the support of the government and local health authorities, the airline ensured that its sta is vaccinated without any hassle. In April, Qatar Airways operated the world’s rst fully Covid-19 vaccinated ight. qatarairways.com

SINGAPORE AIRLINES

As the city-state aimed to rejuvenate its status as an international travel hub, Singapore Airlines (SIA) began operating ights with full sets of crew members vaccinated against Covid-19 back in February 2021. The airline had then claimed that it expected most of its crew to have received the second dose by the end of March 2021. In the same month, Singapore Airlines became the world’s rst airline to pilot the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Travel Pass mobile application for digital health veri cation, on ights travelling from Singapore to London. e pilot has paved the way for the integration of the entire digital health veri cation process into the SingaporeAir mobile app using IATA’s Travel Pass framework. singaporeair.com

SPICEJET

India-based low-cost carrier Spicejet has rolled out several initiatives to streamline the vaccination process across India. e airline launched a company-sponsored vaccination drive that aims to cover employees across all the stations on the airline’s network. e airline stated that it will also facilitate vaccination for the families of employees. e airline’s healthcare arm Spicehealth recently started a Covid vaccination drive for the general public by tying up with major hospitals in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Jharkhand. It is assisting the government to make the world’s largest-ever vaccination drive a success. spicejet.com

VIRGIN ATLANTIC

Virgin Atlantic joined forces with British Airways and Heathrow to launch “proving trials” to simplify travel rules for fully vaccinated passengers. e initiative aimed to convince the government to move forward with its plans to remove quarantine for fully vaccinated passengers entering the UK from “amber” list countries. Virgin Atlantic sta , spanning cabin crew, pilots, ground and o ce-based teams, signed up to assist the NHS and St John’s Ambulance service in the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine across the UK. e airline worked to secure voluntary and paid opportunities for its sta at NHS mass vaccination centres and local facilities. e NHS has also o ered a fast-track application process for Virgin Atlantic employees. virginatlantic.com

VISTARA

Vistara boasts being the rst airline in India to operate ights with cabin crew and pilots fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The full-service carrier has managed to get almost 100 per cent of its sta vaccinated with at least the rst dose by adopting a multi-pronged approach that included leveraging airport-led vaccination drives across the country; utilising the infrastructure available from the government and exclusive centres that consider airline sta on priority as frontline sta ; tie-ups with healthcare providers and with Tata ecosystem for exclusive vaccination camps. An internal tool is being developed where health and vaccination-related data can be uploaded by employees as well as central admin. Employees are also being tracked and approached for their second doses based on their eligibility dates. airvistara.com