Reopening borders: The joy of flying returns after pandemic

After months of stay-at-home orders and closed borders, cities around the world began the process of reopening, travel restrictions started to soften, and leisure travellers were itching to hit the road again.

According to the medical, mathematical, aviation, and travel experts the answer is complicated and comes with numerous caveats. While it may be safe to fly, that doesn't mean it's without risk. Ultimately, flying during the pandemic requires weighing the many variables and deciding how comfortable you feel getting back on a plane.

While specific cleaning procedures and the frequency with which they're carried out vary by airline, most major carriers are disinfecting planes between flights, giving extra attention to high-touch surfaces and bathrooms.

Since both domestic and international flights can last anywhere between one hour and double-digits, it's safer to choose destinations with shorter overall flight times.

Flying internationally carries a few pros that many domestic flights do not, namely due to the entry requirements of several overseas destinations. Many times, proof of a negative Covid-19 test taken preflight or an on-site PCR test at the airport is required to board the plane. While pretesting functions as a way to keep any Covid-positive passengers from boarding flights, it's not a foolproof method.

There is evidence that wearing a face mask is key to preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, making this one of the easiest ways to help mitigate risk while travelling.

The crew were definitely happy to be on board and were practically in tears. It was their first flight in months. They understand very well that without passengers, they don't have a future. While people are the essence to go business which is hard to do via Zoom. It was nice to travel and it was not important it was business or leisure. It would be nice to do as much travel as I was doing before, but perhaps getting more out of it.

It is nice to see couples clinking their champagne glasses and families and honeymooners and retirees. That will be a really important segment post-Covid-19. Hoping to see more people travel business class in the future.

Leisure passengers tend to book earlier. Historically, airlines have held back on the number of leisure passengers that they would allow into those seats, waiting for corporate travellers to show up. We may see a shift in that dynamic, where we allow more seats to be sold earlier, perhaps at lower prices.

Perhaps the first joy of flying is the sky looks even more beautiful when you watch it from above through. After having settled in it was nice to scan for the latest movies to watch during the flight. And then it was time to go through the menu and decide what to eat. While some have their qualms about airline food, for me it was refreshing to eat something, I normally do not eat. It is a Thumbs Down to airlines, who don't offer this basic hospitality to travellers, who have endured hours of painful waiting at airports.

After the wait that can be painfully long if you are hungry and it is time to savour the food and the embellishments that come with the food especially the desserts.

So if you are one of those rare individuals that enjoys being on a plane - especially a long plane ride that includes multiple movies, meals, and at least a few hours of sleep, it could be a heavenly bliss. For those who enjoy sitting in an usually over-air conditioned space with not much room to move around in for hours on end, it can be an awesome experience because the end result - being somewhere totally different when we touchdown - far outweighs the inconveniences of plane travel. As you touchdown, you can't help recall some of the great quotes that describes the joys of flying:

"Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." - Leonardo Da Vinci.

"Man must rise above the Earth - to the top of the atmosphere and beyond - for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives." - Socrates.

"The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who, in their grueling travels across trackless lands in prehistoric times, looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space, at full speed, above all obstacles, on the infinite highway of the air." - Wilbur Wright.