Incoming baggage may need to be divided, either across numerous belts or from other flights arriving at the same time. Plane turnaround times will be increased to allow for more thorough cleaning. All of this adds to the operational and financial constraints that already exist in the COVID-19 context.

1. Airport Terminals Functioning Post Covid

2. Consider a typical busy airport scenario in February: crowded check-ins;
travellers sitting shoulder-to-shoulder at gate lounges; squeezing crowds at
luggage carousels, delayed airport flight schedule, hugs and handshakes at
arrival halls.
In such a short period of time, so much has changed. Airport terminals have
gone from lively centers of activity to eerily vacant locations due to the rapid
spread of COVID-19.

3. However, since infection peaks appear to be dissipating, governments
will switch their attention to reviving the economy. The capacity of the
airline industry to demonstrate that it can enable adequate social-
distancing will be a key element in how quickly lockout rules are lifted.

4. The Changed Scenario
Minding the gap
Airports are anticipating that as economic activity picks up, travellers
will return to the skies fast. Confidence, on the other hand, will have to
be earned. Operators have additional hurdles in keeping people apart
and preventing terminals from becoming possible viral breeding sites
now that social distance is our principal weapon against COVID-19 for
the foreseeable future.

5. The airport's ability to predict and measure passenger movement and
densities – when they arrive, where they stay, and how they choose to
cluster – and use that information to control people flow and distribution
will be key to its success. Building community trust will require timely
communication. Passengers will want confirmation that airports are taking
the necessary precautions because their health and safety may be at risk.
Social distancing – terminal wide
Safe passenger separation will be dependent on operators' abilities to not
only understand passenger density across the terminal in real time, but also
to take proactive measures to avoid crowding. Airports can accomplish this
in a variety of ways, using the optimum combination of data capturing
technologies, analytics, and decision metrics to support their architecture,
budget, and operational requirements.

6. Safer, smaller queues
Queues at departure checkpoints will be unavoidable once people resume
flying. What's less well-known is how airports will enforce social segregation
without causing long queues.
One method is to set a limit on how many people can enter checkpoint
areas; the fewer people that enter, the shorter the line. This can be
accomplished by connecting occupancy sensors to airport screens, which will
alert travellers when lines are large enough to enter the area and which
queue they should join.
Once passengers are in line, video sensors can assess the average distance
between them and issue alerts if passenger density thresholds are exceeded,
or automatically reroute and redistribute people to various lines and
checkpoints.

7. Different operational context
It isn't just passenger crowding and flows that will necessitate a new
approach. A major shift in how airports allocate gates, baggage
carousels, and manage turnarounds will be required. To maximize
separation while accommodating flight volume, they will need to be
more careful about how gate allocations are distributed.
Incoming baggage may need to be divided, either across numerous
belts or from other flights arriving at the same time. Plane turnaround
times will be increased to allow for more thorough cleaning. All of this
adds to the operational and financial constraints that already exist in
the COVID-19 context.

8. Thank you