Vaccinated Flights – What & How Safe Are They? Which Airlines Are Operating Them?

Last Updated on Jul 11th, 2024 by Heena Ganotra, Leave a Comment

It’s been over a year that COVID-19 wreaked havoc globally. Since then, the government along with the travel agencies and tour operators have been finding ways to revive the aviation industry. All this without compromising on the safety of the travelers because safety first! 

And now that vaccinations have started rolling out in most of the countries, the aviation sector has found a way to promote travel through “vaccinated flights”. But what are vaccinated flights? Are they safe? What airlines are operating them?

Let’s delve a bit deeper and find out. 

What Are Vaccinated Flights?

Vaccinated flights are the flights that have all the pilots along with the crew members vaccinated. These flights aim to help travelers restore their faith in travel by making it ultra-safe. 

In other words, the flights that are managed only by the staff that is vaccinated are known as vaccinated flights. These almost negate the risk of the COVID-19 virus transmission onboard. 

If you’re wondering what flights these are, there are three airlines that have taken the initiative of operating vaccinated flights only. 

Which Airlines Are Operating Vaccinated Flights?

As stated, there are three airlines that operate vaccinated flights-

• Ethiad Airways

• Singapore Airlines Group

• Emirates Airlines

Etihad Airways

The national airline of the UAE, Etihad Airways, announced on 10th February 2021 that it was the first airline in the world to fly with an all-vaccinated crew. This move by the airline has cemented its position as an airline that values and cares for its passengers. 

The first flight for which it happened was Flight EK215 which departed Dubai at 0830 hrs for Los Angeles. Right from the staff, the cabin crew, boarding gate employees, and the engineers to SkyCargo teams along with special handling teams, each one of them were fully vaccinated. 

Singapore Airlines Group

Right after a day when Etihad announced that it flew an all-vaccinated flight, Singapore Airlines Group announced that it (along with its sister companies) will be flying with an all-vaccinated crew. The first vaccinated Singapore Airlines flight was SQ956 that departed Singapore for Jakarta, Indonesia on Feb. 11 at 9:30 a.m. 

Singapore Airlines’ low-cost subsidiary – Scoot’s first flight with a fully-vaccinated crew, TR606, departed Singapore for Bangkok at the same time. Singapore Airlines’ sister company – SilkAir flew its first fully-vaccinated flight on the same day. This flight, MI608, departed for Phnom Penh later in the afternoon at 4:30 p.m. 

Emirates Airlines

After a few days, on 21st February 2021, Emirates also flew its first flight operated by a vaccinated staff. Not only had the pilots and cabin crew taken the jabs, but the airline’s employees at check-in, security, business lounge, first-class lounge, and boarding gate had been inoculated against the virus. 

What Does The Chief Operating Officer Of Emirates Have To Say On This?

Adel Al Redha, Chief Operating Officer of Emirates Airline said, “Our operational workforce are at the aviation frontline, helping people get to where they need to be, and moving essential goods to global communities. Protecting our people with vaccinations is important – for them, for our community, for the smooth running of our operations, and also for our customers as it introduces an additional layer of protection when they travel with us. We’ve seen a very positive response with high demand and take-up of the Covid-19 vaccine from our colleagues at the operational frontline, and there’s continued momentum in the rate of vaccinations across the business. We would like to thank the UAE’s leadership for making three types of vaccines available in the country, and for their proactive commitment to championing an extensive National Vaccination Programme.”

Al Redha further added, “At the outset of the pandemic, Emirates implemented robust safety measures to protect and prioritise the safety of our customers and employees at all stages of the travel journey, and with the rapid progress of our own vaccination programme and high rates of take-up, more of our flights will soon be operating with fully vaccinated frontline employees. We are also confident that with more people being vaccinated, combined with strong safety measures in place, we can all look forward to the easing of border entry guidelines for many countries.

How Safe Are Vaccinated Flights?

Flying in a vaccinated flight is any day a safer option. However, one thing that needs to be noted is that vaccinated flights aren’t a sure-shot solution to making travel free from virus transmission. 

That’s because it isn’t yet clear if vaccinated travelers can transmit the virus to others. In fact, it isn’t even clear if the vaccinated travelers can catch the virus again even after being protected against it once. Unless we have clear answers to these, wearing masks, using sanitizers, and social distancing is a must. 

Will Vaccinated Flights Promote Travel & Normalize It?

It is too early to predict if vaccinated flights will normalize travel or not, but it will 100% promote travel, both international flights to USA and back. Senior citizens who have been apprehensive about their travel plans will have a sigh of relief. Consequently, they’ll book flights without fear. 

Having said that, vaccinations will take a central position in the travel industry; more so because more and more countries are demanding vaccination certificates and vaccinated passports. 

Where Can I Book Vaccinated Flights?

MyTicketsToIndia, a leading flight-booking portal, can help you book vaccinated flights at prices that are budget-friendly. Not only this, we have been actively helping passengers book VBM and Air Bubble flights after clearing every doubt they had regarding their travel. We did that even when the COVID was at its peak and flight-booking seemed to be an impossible activity. 

While now the situation is a lot better, the pile of questions and queries hasn’t reduced. That’s where we come into the picture. We help travelers choose the best flight option after careful consideration. Ready to book your flights to India? Get in touch with us today!