‘The airline industry at large will see a significant change in terms of technology and travel’

As we bid adieu to one of the most challenging years for everyone, we are optimistic for 2021. I am very much hopeful that global commercial travel and the aviation sector will continue to walk towards a gradual recovery.

At Qatar Airways, we never stopped flying throughout the pandemic, fulfilling our mission of taking stranded passengers home on scheduled and charter flights. It goes without saying that people will continue to travel again, meet friends and family, restart specific business travel and experience the world. Additionally, with promising developments around the vaccine rolling out across the world, this gives us greater confidence particularly as we look to the second half of 2021.

We believe that travel will steadily return, limited by entry restrictions rather than customer confidence. As we all are aware, the aviation industry is highly adaptable to potential risks – it has a history of resilience and will continue to manage and mitigate risks.

The pandemic has been a crucial example of the exemplary initiatives implemented across the travel and aviation industry. This year has been a learning experience, and for the aviation industry, it gave us an opportunity to enhance customer experience by adapting newer technologies to ensure the highest safety and hygiene standards are in place. The airline industry at large will see a significant change in terms of technology and travel.

As I mentioned, we have learned a lot from the pandemic. The trend that I see taking hold is that the customer journey will mainly revolve on three aspects – safety, hygiene and seamlessness. The wearing of masks and the use of sanitizers may prevail and be ‘must-haves’ for travel going forwards. Secondly, emerging technologies that were once in the background will now play a leading role in drawing more people to travel – such as contactless travel and possibly, digital health passports.

As we begin the New Year with optimism, our aim is to continue enhancing and amplifying our existing offerings while introducing new ones, to cater to the ever-evolving needs of our passengers. Despite the economic impact of COVID-19 on the aviation industry, Qatar Airways continued to invest in its products and services to ensure that its customer experience remains unparalleled and the best in the world.

Qatar Airways stringently implemented the most advanced safety and hygiene measures, including the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for cabin crew and a complimentary protective kit and disposable face shields for passengers. Additionally, among other enhanced hygiene measures, the airline was the first international carrier to deploy Honeywell’s Ultraviolet (UV) Cabin System, operated by Qatar Aviation Services, further advancing its hygiene measures on board.