Emma Gilthorpe, chief operating officer at Heathrow airport, emphasised how agents can help their clients to comply with Covid-19 requirements, such as filling in the correct forms and when to take a test.

“The biggest gift you can give your customers is to make sure they really understand the steps they are going to have to go through,” said Gilthorpe during the TTG Agenda 2021 seminar for TTG+ members.

“For those people not using agents, often they are under-prepared for what’s to come. Anxiety is largely created by ambiguity. Being able to resolve that ambiguity for your customers is a big help.”

Gilthorpe admitted Heathrow’s management was waiting with “bated breath” for the recommendations of the government’s Global Travel Taskforce in April, which will set out how international travel will resume, including issues such as vaccine passports or certificates.

An update on the taskforce’s plans to restart international travel is expected on 5 April followed by a full report on 12 April.

Gilthorpe said that the concept of vaccine passports was a “really good one” but added that Heathrow would be “very disappointed if it was mandatory in any way”.

She added the airport needed to be able to handle vaccine passports in a “streamlined way” and called for a common international standard for these documents, rather than every country creating their own version.

“We cannot have 17 different vaccine passports – that will kill the process at airports and is going to be unworkable,” she said. “We need digitalisation, standardisation and a common international standard.

“I would be surprised if we had something locked and loaded and ready to go for this summer.”

Gilthorpe added that Heathrow was “prepared for a busy summer” and was considering whether to reopen Terminal 3 to create more space for passengers. But she stressed that the airport would not be getting back to 2019 levels of traffic this summer.

She called for a “dynamic approach” to reopening air routes so that flights could be restored quickly when countries “get Covid under control”.

“Outside the border, I’m reasonably confident we can cope with a range of different demand scenarios over the summer,” said Gilthrope.

Heathrow is working with the Border Force to try to reduce potential queues at immigration during the summer.

“The border has been an issue for a long time before Covid,” said Gilthorpe. “We’re working with Border Force to help them to plan. The early signs are positive and we’re hopeful for the summer.”

Gilthorpe also urged passengers not to turn up at airports “hours and hours” before their flight departure.

“Don’t be tempted to turn up hours and hours – four or five hours – before the flight,” she said. “That causes pressure in the terminal because of social distancing. Three hours for long-haul, two hours for short-haul is fine.”

To catch up on all of the Agenda 2021 sessions, click here.