Due to the coronavirus pandemic, people around the world have practically lost the opportunity to travel that has already become familiar to many. In many countries, even local movement around the city was limited. However, this situation will not last forever. Tengritravel.kz provides expert opinions on when it will be possible to travel around the world again.

Peter Griffiths, Director General of the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan, shares the view that strict quarantine measures are primarily intended to ensure that the healthcare system copes with the increased burden and societies can avoid the sad consequences. At the same time, air travel, as he emphasizes, poses a high risk of infection. Cramped conditions on planes create ideal conditions: it is difficult to avoid touching those who sit next to them, dishes and on-board toilets - all this makes it possible for the virus to go unnoticed and be picked up by another passenger. Moreover, the virus has a significant incubation period and carriers may not even know that they are already infected and infect other people.

The specialist named the terms for which, in his opinion, air travel should be stopped.

“It is now clear that for some time our aviation industry will be severely paralyzed due to the spread of the virus, but in order to contain it, all travel outside the local regions had to be stopped for a period of at least 42 days. Inevitably, this will mean that flights may stop for a while. In my own region, flights are restricted or canceled for 3 months to countries such as China, Iran and Korea. This will help to localize the virus in the foci of infection and stop its spread at the global level,” said Peter Griffiths.

To restore air travel, according to the expert, reducing the infection rate is not enough, there must be a zero infection rate for a certain period of time. And even then, breakthroughs of the virus and the formation of new foci are possible, localization will again be required.