“IT'S TIME TO RIGHT-SIZE”

As the commercial aviation world goes through trials and tribulations caused by COVID-19, Raul Villaron, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Embraer Commercial Aviation talks to SP’s Aviation on how Embraer can help airlines in AsiaPacific tide over this crisis

SP’s Aviation (SP’s): How does Embraer Commercial perceive the impact and after-effects of COVID-19?

Raul Villaron (Raul): The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has definitely shaken the aviation industry, be it airlines, airports or even aircraft manufacturers. Air traffic will not come back up again until the virus can finally be contained. Some in the industry estimate that while domestic market will recover first, international traffic will be seen back only in the next three to five years. Asia will be the first region where we will see a recovery in domestic travel, but things will not be the same as pre-COVID. There will be important learning and changes along the way.

Travellers need to be constantly assured about the health and safety aspects of air travel. All in the aviation industry have a part to play in continued awareness-building about the meticulous safety measures in place at every touchpoint of the passenger journey - contactless procedures at airports, frequent deep-cleaning processes especially for high-contact surfaces, clean cabin air that is refreshed every two to three minutes, hospital-grade HEPA filters in the aircraft that effectively trap 99.97 per cent of contaminants as small as 0.3 microns, top to bottom air circulation and minimised contact between crew and passengers.

Traveller behaviour is changing – the higher prevalence of digital communications will alter business travel trends, and leisure travellers in Asia will prefer to avoid large, congested hubs in exchange for more point to point travel. Connectivity to smaller cities will still be served by the region’s airlines but are likely downsized to smaller gauge equipment like our E2 to match the changing demand.