Airports are in trouble. The strong recovery needed to overcome the hurdles put in place by the pandemic is being hurt by a number of factors. Confusion and chaos are reigning king and queen, and not giving travellers the confidence to put their money towards international holidays that they aren’t guaranteed of getting. SafeScore is here to change this.
Chaos at Airports
Re-opening for tourism was never going to be smooth sailing. However, the ease of re-opening might have been underestimated as has been illustrated at a number of airports in recent weeks. Dublin Airport had to issue an apology at the end of August as passengers were required to wait in queues for over 2 hours. Over 100 passengers missed their flights as a result.
In Heathrow International Airport, travellers reported queuing times of over four hours. In fact, the queues were so long, and so poorly managed that some passengers even fainted. The same scene appeared to play out in other airports across the United Kingdom.
In Malaga Airport, in Spain, some passengers reportedly took out their frustration at the long waiting times by knocking down the barriers in the arrivals terminal.
And, in each of these cases, social distancing rules weren’t followed, and there was often little access to food and water.
Why is this happening?
Travel requirements and restrictions are a minefield of confusing, ambiguous, and often misleading information.
Passengers aren’t arriving at the airport with the correct documents, and often aren’t meeting key requirements. Some travellers are denied boarding as they didn’t receive the correct tests. In most cases, customers haven’t completed forms that are recommended to be filled in at home. Why? Because they didn’t know they had to. In Ireland alone, it was reported that two passengers were being denied travel every two hours thanks to incorrect travel information and documentation.
A lack of access to clear, concise, and up-to-date information is one cause to blame for this. In many cases, there is no clear point of contact for the aviation industry to communicate government mandates to its customers. Airport and airline staff, are expected to know specific requirements for exiting, and entering numerous destinations. They haven’t been given the correct tools for the job.
Checking travel details like these take time, and it’s a labourious task – leading to even longer queues. Sometimes airports have been given incorrect information, which they convey to the passengers. SafeScore’s CEO experienced this himself – luckily, he had the correct data to hand.
In fact, UK watchdog, Which? released a study highlighting just how many UK airlines were giving their passengers incorrect, incomplete, or unclear travel information. And, if the passenger fails to meet the requirements at the airport, there is no recourse for a refund – hardly an enticing prospect for a would-be customer.
Damaging Recovery
So, how are the queues, and information stumbling blocks hurting airports and airlines?
Queues are the unpleasant reality of the modern world – but when they lead to fines, refunds, and loss of customers, they become a different beast. Whether it’s the airlines facing hefty fines for exceeding their allotted time on the tarmac, or the compensation paid to customers, or irate customers posting on social media, the damage is clear in every corner.
How we Help
SafeScore provides clear, up-to-date, and reliable travel information.
We have all the data airports and airlines need to ensure smoother transitions, and improve the customer experience. Some of the important data points we include are, child PCR testing ages, locator form information, specific vaccine requirements, and more. We are origin and destination-specific, so we tailor our data according to the routes required.
Our API packages are customisable, and our products are concise, and easy to use. We know how long it can take to find the correct information in a government website – nobody wants to queue for that. This is why we’ve made everything straightforward, and accessible with just a few clicks.
Let’s help the travel industry recover, together.