The head of Qatar is pouring cold water in hopes of a speedy aviation recovery
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Qatar Airways CEO has poured cold water on hopes of reviving aviation quickly and warned that more cooperation is needed to create vaccine passports to save the industry.
“I don’t think the resurgence of aviation is going to happen for quite some time…. I still don’t see the worst coming to an end,” Akbar Al Baker said in an interview.
The Qatari executive took on a more pessimistic tone than the bosses of major European and American airlines, which are expected to bounce back in the coming months.
U.S. airlines have said the worst impact of the crisis has passed, while in Europe there is hope for a recovery in travel after easing border restrictions.
Al Baker believes vaccines are just a “pure” solution, as it is not yet known how long they will offer protection against Covid-19.
The UK may have fourth, fifth or sixth case waves after opening its borders to international travel, he warned.
Qatar Airways is one of the Gulf airlines for the past 30 years, driven by the deep pockets of their owners to connect points around the world through airport centers in the Middle East.
But they are based on long-haul travel, and are expected to recover more slowly than domestic and short-haul regional flights. Qatar is currently on the “red list” of countries in the UK, which means direct flights are banned.
Al Baker has called on countries and organizations like the World Health Organization to work harder to develop vaccine passports.
“Each country produces its own applications, its own protocols, which, in the end, will not work,” he said.
Numerous digital health gateways are being developed, including a travel card for the Iata aircraft group related to Qatar Airways.
The app allows passengers to show evidence of a vaccine or negative test when they travel, but no agreement has been reached on a global set of technology standards.
“These travel passports are as good as the system you set up there. If each country has a different protocol, each country has a different system, each country has a different requirement, it confuses travelers and confuses airlines,” he said.
Al Baker’s influence extends beyond the Middle East. Qatar Airways is the main shareholder of the owner of British Airways, and also sits on the management of Heathrow thanks to its stake in Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund at the UK’s largest airport.
He has no plans to increase IAG’s stake, but has asked BA CEO Sean Doyle to provide customer support.
“As shareholders we have made it very clear that we want British Airways and other airlines to offer a high level of products and services to our customers because we want to be the strongest airline in Europe,” he said.
BA responded: “As we emerge from the pandemic, we are focused on providing excellence to our customers…. internal WiFi. “
The airline mishandled former chief Alex Cruz, who rose to fame for cutting costs, he said. “You shouldn’t bring an airline like British Airways…. That was, you know, the world’s favorite airline, to the point where it ended,” he said.
The state-owned Qatar Airways won a nearly $ 2 billion government support package after losing the same amount of money in 12 months between March 2020, before Covid had the worst impact.
Driven by the load, the airline makes about 70 percent of its normal schedule. Aircraft meet an average of about 40 percent, but the crisis has allowed the company to “establish our brand very strongly,” he said.
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