Etihad Airways introduced an interactive map to help its customers navigate through COVID-19 related travel restrictions. Recent weeks saw several instances of misunderstandings and stranded passengers as travel restrictions can change momentarily.
Etihad Airways launched a travel map together with Canadian travel risk management company Sistata, to help travelers make informed travel plans, the airline outlined in a statement on July 8, 2020.
The travel map uses advanced computer algorithms to detect new travel information such as announcements and updates published on official government websites and reputable media channels. The information is continuously updated and verified by Sitata’s team of editors, according to the airline.
The tool shows two kinds of information about a selected country: travel information and the COVID-19 risk rating. Travel information includes aspects such as border restrictions, curfew timings, mandatory precautionary measures, quarantine rules, airport and flight operations.
Etihad Airways travel map can be accessed here.
The release comes among the easing travel restrictions, when more and more airlines are resuming scheduled passenger flights. However, as countries impose different rules, passengers’ confusion over changing conditions remains a problem.
For instance, a Qatar Airways passenger was reportedly left stranded in Sao Paulo’s transit lounge in Brazil after New Zealand tightened the rules for international arrivals, the NZ Herald reported on July 8, 2020.
More drastically, Lion Air halted then-freshly renewed flights in early June 2020, after a high number of passengers had been denied air travel for failing to meet travel conditions such as complete the requirement documents or meet other requirements amid the COVID-19 pandemic.