What the Airplane Cabin of the Future Might Look Like
Courtesy Amy Woodyatt, CNN
Air travel is still far from pre-pandemic levels, but it began bouncing back in May. Still, travelers are rightly nervous about climbing aboard a packed plane, but thankfully, designers are already thinking ahead at what the cabins of the future might look like.
In a newly released concept, UK-based design studio PriestmanGoode has developed a post-pandemic cabin to focus on hygiene and personal space and keep passengers safe and relaxed.
Firstly, the firm has reimagined business and economy class. Passengers in “pure skies zones” — previously known as economy — will sit in a staggered seat configuration so that they can travel alone, as a couple, or in groups. Dividing screens are also placed at the end of every other row to further separate travelers, while in-flight entertainment systems have been removed in favor of the passenger’s own devices.
But some things never change: Flying business is always more fun than economy.
Those seated in “pure skies rooms” will fly in a fully enclosed personal space, partitioned by curtains and complete with light and temperature control systems, as well as a personal wardrobe and overhead storage and an in-flight entertainment system synchronized to the passenger’s devices.
As well as comfort, the cabin also boasts hygiene credentials, with minimal split line seat design and antimicrobial materials.
The studio has also incorporated heat, ultraviolet UVC cleaning and fogging as part of the cabin’s pre-boarding process, and notes that touch-free features run through the cabin.
“We’ve looked ahead to imagine future scenarios and taken into account new passenger behaviors driven by the global pandemic to ensure our designs can be implemented within a few years and will meet user and airline requirements for many years ahead,” Nigel Goode, co-founding director at PriestmanGoode, said in a statement.
Although the cabins won’t be a part of your travel experience in the immediate future — according to PriestmanGoode, it can take three years to develop and certify them — the firm thinks they will stand the test of time.
“With both passengers and airline employees at the heart of this project, we have not only taken on board present anxieties but also tried to ensure our solutions are future-proofed against future pandemics, recognizing the significant commitment and investment involved,” he added.
The company hopes that, through a combination of innovative design features, touch-free technology and material innovation, airlines will be able to both improve personal space and hygiene and reassure passengers — which, they say, will be vital for the airline industry, even after the pandemic.
Just this week, the International Air Transport Association announced that global air travel won’t recover from the Covid-19 crisis until 2024 — a year later than previously predicted.
In a revised baseline, the body, which represents 290 airlines, forecast that international passenger traffic will drop 55% in 2020, compared to 2019, blaming the sluggish recovery on a number of factors, including a lack of consumer confidence, the decline in business travel, and fresh coronavirus case spikes
The coronavirus pandemic has changed a lot of things — the way we socialize, work, and the way we travel.
Air travel is still far from pre-pandemic levels, but it began bouncing back in May. Still, travelers are rightly nervous about climbing aboard a packed plane, but thankfully, designers are already thinking ahead at what the cabins of the future might look like.
In a newly released concept, UK-based design studio PriestmanGoode has developed a post-pandemic cabin to focus on hygiene and personal space and keep passengers safe and relaxed.
EU Extends Ban on American Travelers — Again — With US COVID-19 Cases Far Outpacing European Countries
Curtis Tate, Deirdre Shesgreen
USA TODAY
For the second time this month, the European Union extended its travel ban on Americans on August 6 as COVID-19 infections continued to rise across the United States.
The EU first started lifting its travel restrictions outside the bloc on July 1, welcoming visitors from 14 countries, including Canada, South Korea and Australia. The U.S. was left off that initial list, and the EU extended its ban on Americans visiting the bloc on July 16.
The announcement, by the European Council, came after EU officials conducted their biweekly review of travel restrictions, examining coronavirus trends and containment measures in each country to determine whether to add or narrow the list of permitted travelers.
The key measurement: The pandemic outbreak in a given country needs to be equally contained — or better — than in the EU.
The United States had more than 4.4 million COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, and more than 151,000 deaths, more than any other nation, according to Johns Hopkins University.
European countries have made significantly more progress in containing the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. According to EU data, the bloc — which includes the European Economic Area (EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and the United Kingdom — reported more than 1.7 million cases as of Thursday.
Three U.S. states — California, Florida and New York — have more than 400,000 cases, while a fourth, Texas, has nearly as many. No other EU country has more than 300,000 cases, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Here are the dozen countries where citizens are approved to visit the EU. The list has not changed from two weeks ago, when Montenegro and Serbia were removed:
- Australia
- Canada
- Georgia
- Japan
- Morocco
- New Zealand
- Rwanda
- South Korea
- Thailand
- Tunisia
- Uruguay
- China, subject to confirmation of reciprocity
Thursday’s decree does not apply to travel to Britain, which left the EU in January.
The U.S. State Department has advised Americans against international travel since March.
U.S. Adventure Traveler Sentiment — June-July 2020 Report
In June-July 2020, the ATTA surveyed U.S. customers of ATTA adventure tour operator members to understand their sentiment on a host of topics and gauge their travel and spending preferences in the next 12 months.
493 U.S. adventure travelers from 42 states shared thoughts on the following.
- Overnight leisure travel planned in the next six months
- Factors impacting travel decisions in the next six months
- Next trip planning state
- Next trip travel destination type
- Next trip travel style type (solo, friends/family, group, other)
- Trip activity preferences in the time of COVID-19
- Consumers’ adjustment plan if (new) travel restrictions pose a problem
- Adventure consumers’ expectations of their guides and tour operators
- Consumers’ sustainability sentiments
- Consumer sentiment on purchasing trip health insurance with pandemic coverage
- Adventure consumers’ travel spending expectations in 2021 compared to their 2019 spend
The U.S. Adventure Traveler Sentiment — June-July 2020 report offers valuable insights for those looking to understand adventure traveler sentiment, preferences, and expectations in the time of COVID-19.
