Warn Lithuanians Who Travel: Change Your Habits, Because You May Not Fly

Exactly a year ago, at that time, there were so few passengers on the flight from the Latvian capital, Riga, to the Italian capital, Rome, that almost everyone could sit in three chairs. In the window, in the middle or from the edge as you wish. And there were no queues at the airports at all, you arrived, delivered your suitcase and were able to pass the security check in a few minutes. Frequent flyers couldn’t believe what was happening. He called that situation: paradise, freedom, pleasure and other beautiful words. It was comfortable, but at the same time sad. After all, empty flights meant tough times for airlines and airports.

But as in all situations, in this one, after the darkness came the light. Very bright, beautiful light, once again illuminating the tourism sector with optimism.

I can only remember the empty flights from Vilnius to Helsinki, from Bergen to Oslo, from Cairo to Dubai as a dream, or as a surreal past. Because now, you will not see anything like it.

Airports are full of people again. Business travelers, leisure tourists, migrants who emigrate everywhere, seekers of happiness. From what is happening in airports both in Vilnius and in other European cities, it could be concluded that the situation has completely returned to normal and has even returned to a good pre-pandemic year. It seems “at a glance”, but unfortunately the statistics do not show it yet. “Grow and grow until then,” say several airlines. Because even though the planes are already very full, almost one hundred percent, the trips are not really as many as they used to be. And many airports are not operating at full capacity. Therefore, even though the corridors and waiting rooms seem to be very congested, there is no need to rejoice in the aviation business.

But there is another aspect of this problem that not everyone is talking about yet. There is more and more chaos at airports. Long lines, anger at the check-in counters, travelers on their flight, distractions chaotically searching for a boarding gate are what I have seen flying across Europe in recent weeks.

However, all who travel today should realize that the world of aviation has changed and that for some time, maybe half a year, maybe a year, maybe two, we will travel with additional rules that have never existed before. This means that normal airport procedures may take longer than we are used to.

Currently there are certain requirements or restrictions to fly in almost every direction in the world. This means that before you hand over your suitcase and receive your boarding pass, you will need to provide the airport employee with certain documents or an electronic version of them. Many countries require that you have a vaccination passport with the correct details. That is, vaccinations must be carried out before a certain time, consequently, it must be taken into account how many doses you have received and the like. In many places a negative coronavirus test is required, rapid tests are not suitable in all places where PCR test results are required. There are still states that ask for additional things, like the UK that requires you to register for a test in your country before you arrive.

There is also more confusion and requirements that everyone who travels should know about. If you are not flying on a direct flight, but on a transfer, you need to find out what the country requires where you have to switch to another aircraft. It happens that just for a transfer, to use a plane flying out of that country, you will have to have an additional test result, even for those who are fully vaccinated. And that newspaper will probably ask you at the airport you are leaving from.

Many people like to be interested in various requirements in advance and only find out about everything when they arrive at the airport. Then, of course, anger arises both towards oneself and towards others. You want to yell, fight, sometimes even threaten. People do that, trust me. They scold and hope something will change. There are tears, tears with tears of blood, and he thinks it will soften the hearts of the officials in charge.

There are also simpler options. When, say, a country to which a gentleman or a lady flies, a registration form is required to be completed, as Lithuania does, for example. Many forget to do this ahead of time and only do it when they add a suitcase. Everyone else has to wait. There is another sadder option in Greece. On the same day, before departure, the questionnaire for this country will not be completed and confirmation will not be received. If you did not do it the day before, you will hear a sad message at the airport that you will not be allowed to board the plane.

All of these situations endlessly annoy working officials, and also terribly annoy those waiting in line at the check-in counter. Queues stretch to infinity, this procedure now takes twice as long. You probably know the recommendation of tour operators and airlines to arrive at the airport two and a half hours before the flight, sometimes some say that it takes even three hours to arrive. But at the current pace, this time should be extended further.

Even at small airports like Vilnius, Kaunas or Palanga, spend more time on flight check-in and other checks. Because passengers get stuck en masse. For example, he was used to arriving at the airport in our capital an hour and a half before the flight. But now I don’t do it anymore because I arrived two hours before the flight and I’m barely keeping up.

That was the case in Vilnius, last Friday, when I flew to the German city of Frankfurt. Flight 06.30 in the morning, one hour before 05.30. – the queue in the register was so long that a thousand nerve cells burned in it while many were standing there. “Guess?”, “What’s going on there?” The waiters whispered. At the time, only two of the four passenger compartments were operating at full capacity. The other two stood next to worried travelers, filling nothing or not marking something. There they arranged their affairs and at the same time blocked the queue.

Something similar happened this Wednesday at the airport on the island of Madeira, where he was also queuing at check-in for a flight to Frankfurt. Each passenger had to present a vaccination document or a negative test, and those who flew to Lithuania, for example, also had the QR code of the questionnaire of the National Center of Public Health of our country. The tail moved at the speed of a tortoise. If before a person took between 2 and 3 minutes to register, now it takes between 5 and 7 minutes. Even if all the paperwork is in order, it takes more time to submit and verify it. The Swiss, for example, flew to Zurich and, via Frankfurt, two vaccinations. But he searched his cell phone for a copy of the document confirming it for about 6 minutes. Initially, he tried to connect to the airport’s free Wi-Fi Internet connection, but failing that, he began asking other people to provide him with Internet access. When she got what she wanted, the woman went to her inbox for a long time until she finally found the document she needed.

But time does not melt here. After adding the bags and receiving the boarding pass, the station must move to the next queue for the check. And there is another surprise: in Madeira, for example, they try to keep the distance between travelers. Officials stand and regulate so that one person does not “get on” another. Flows of people specially distributed, one officer spends only a certain number of passengers and the other time outside. This creates a few more queues that take longer.

In all these queues, people are constantly coming out who almost cry, praying to fail, because they are in a hurry, because they are late, or sometimes they say that “it is already late.” You have to miss them, of course. Until finally, the “last call” message plays through the speakers themselves. If you want to keep up, this is the reality that frequent travelers are facing now.

You want the whole process to go smoothly, without burning your nerves – arrive earlier than you used to, add at least an additional half hour. And also, making life easier for you and the airport staff, prepare all the necessary documents in a neat, fast and easily accessible place. Of course, it is very important to check the requirements of the country you are going to many times before going to the airport. If you signed up a week ago, don’t think that everything stayed the way it was then. Double check, maybe something has changed, maybe a new item has appeared. And it can be fatal. Save time, money and health.