What you need to know: Coronavirus and travel bans
This report summarizes some recent travel restriction developments around the world due to the COVID-19 coronavirus.
What you need to know reports
What you need to know: Airline operations
A collection of reports that summarize what airlines across the world are doing and planning in view of COVID-19.
What you need to know: Hotel cleanliness and hygiene programs
This report summarizes what hotel companies around the world are doing and planning in view of COVID-19.
What you need to know: COVID-19: Airline seat capacity policy
As part of their efforts to keep travelers safe, some airlines are social distancing passengers by keeping a number of seats free on flights; typically, the middle seat is kept free. This report details what airlines are doing and includes information on those that have decided not to adopt this measure. Download (PDF)
Getting back to business travel: At the airport
To give people the confidence to resume travel, measures are already being rolled out by suppliers, regulators and other organizationsto ensure they can do so safely, with a much reduced risk of exposure to COVID-19. Many aspects of air travel may not return to how they were before COVID-19. The six stages a traveler has …
Getting back to business travel: On the airplane
To give people the confidence to resume travel, measures are already being rolled out by suppliers, regulators and other organizations to ensure they can do so safely, with a much-reduced risk of exposure to COVID-19.
What you need to know: Car rental company cleanliness and hygiene programs
This report summarizes what car rental companies around the world are doing and planning in view of COVID-19.
Travel beyond 2020 – Supersonic flights
Following Concorde’s retirement in 2003, it’s been more than 15 years since a supersonic passenger aircraft last operated a commercial service. And yet travelers and travel companies continue to dream of supersonic travel.
Travel beyond 2020 – Electric-powered flights
Aerospace firms are working together to tackle the industry’s growing contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. One solution is to power aircraft using electric engines. A prototype of the world’s first commercial all-electric passenger aircraft is already flying.
Travel beyond 2020 – Space travel
NASA’s Space Shuttle completed its last mission in 2011, but the appetite for space travel hasn’t disappeared. The race for space has continued among private enterprise. Passengers could be traveling into space as soon as 2020.
Travel beyond 2020 – Robots in travel
Robots can help deliver a personalized experience to travelers. While travelers are happy to use automated technology, they’re less sure about interacting with robots. Deploying robot services in airports and hotels improves customer service and lowers costs.
Travel beyond 2020 – Autonomous vehicles
Getting smoothly around a city can be just as important to business travelers as flying between cities. New business models, such as ride-hailing, are already changing the way we travel around on the ground. Technological innovations including electrification, connectivity and autonomy are poised to further transform the way we travel in and between towns and cities.
Travel beyond 2020 – Hyperloop
The idea of passengers traveling in pods at high speed in sealed transportation tubes may seem to be straight out of a science fiction novel. It’s not. It’s an idea-turned concept inspired by technologist billionaire Elon Musk in 2012. Seven years later, Hyperloop transportation systems are nearing full-scale testing, with the first commercial operations ready perhaps within a few years.If it delivers what’s been promised, Hyperloop could transform short-haul travel, offering business travelers and their companies a sustainable travel option and untold cost and productivity savings.
European aviation eco taxes; managing sustainable travel
International environmental organization “Friends of the Earth” estimates aviation emissions more than doubled between 1990 and 2016, while overall emissions from all sources fell by 43%.1 Low aviation taxes, a proliferation of low-cost carriers and the rise of alternative accommodation have been blamed for an air-travel boom. While the debate continues, European governments are starting to look to taxation as a way of reducing aviation’s environmental impact.