This is a great first.
On Tuesday April 6, a Qatar Airways airline plane took off with only passengers vaccinated against the coronavirus on board.
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The flight of just over three hours had no destination and was only intended to take a tour over Doha, the capital of Qatar.
It remains however the first of its kind, ahead of the company Emirate Airlines which should make the same flight this Saturday, according to Air Journal.
On board the A350 of Qatar Airways, the 144 travelers and the 18 staff members had therefore received the precious doses, as the company said on Twitter, stressing that it is a world first.
This experience this special flight
"shows us that the prospects for the recovery of international tourism are no longer so remote,"
said Akbar Al Baker, CEO of the Qatar Airways group quoted by Air Journal.
Presenting itself as an
"industry leader"
, the company says it is
"proud to have operated the first flight with a crew and passengers 100% vaccinated, and thus to bring a glimmer of hope concerning the future of the world. 'international aviation'
.
Descent into hell
The deployment of vaccination on a global scale gives companies hope for a long-awaited resumption of air traffic.
The latter was still at half mast with a decrease of 66% compared to 2019, the last
“normal”
financial year
on January 27, according to Eurocontrol.
For its part, Iata, the association that unites the 290 global airlines, expects activity "at the
end of 2021 of 50% to 60% compared to 2019
" and still predicts abysmal losses for the sector in 2021: 38.7 billions of dollars.
Carriers are in fact bearing the brunt of this drop in activity.
Monday April 5, Bruno Le Maire announced a new rescue plan for Air France to the tune of 4 billion euros.
