AFF on Air Discussion thread

[daft009]

Great finish to the year! You could "hear" the smile on @AviatorInsight 's face during the interview!

 

[Townsend]

Thanks Matt, I look forward to the end of January for the next episode.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and trust that 2021 will be a better year for everyone.

 

[AFF Editor]

Great finish to the year! You could "hear" the smile on @AviatorInsight 's face during the interview!

Thanks Matt, I look forward to the end of January for the next episode.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and trust that 2021 will be a better year for everyone.

Thanks to both of you. I was tempted to end the last episode for 2020 with a flaming trash can (what better way to sum up 2020?), but thought it might be nicer to end on a positive story instead. I'm personally thrilled for @AviatorInsight that he's able to get back to work and was probably almost as excited as he was to hear the news as it's a sign that travel is recovering. Hopefully there will be lots more good news to come in 2021!

Have a wonderful Christmas break and I look forward to the podcast returning in the new year.

 

[AFF Editor]

We've just released the first episode for 2021 after the Christmas break: Podcast Episode #52: When Could "Normal" Travel Resume?

You may notice that the podcast has a new look and sound this year. We decided to refresh the podcast with some new music and a new intro, which is the first time we've done this since it launched more than two years ago. I hope you like it!

 

[Melburnian1]

The seven minutes on 'when will international travel resume?' could be summarised as 'no one knows'.

The podcast was very good (Matt has a reasonable 'radio voice' that many including me lack, so he's pleasant to listen to) but there wasn't any mention during those seven minutes of how experienced travellers, business or leisure, are often prepared to take risks after we individually assess these. Why, for instance, can't we travel as of today to Taiwan, arguably the most successful country worldwide at combating this virus?

At about 37:55, did Mattg mean 'preventing transmission' instead of his mentions of 'preventing infection?' Isn't the greater debate about whether the various vaccines prevent us passing on the virus to others, and that's where there's a lack of data at present?

Mattg didn't cover (apart from his interesting mention of Seychelles) that keys to overseas travel returning include the willingness or otherwise of foreign governments to accept Australians, whether quarantining on arrival overseas is still necessary, what we have to do when we return to Australia and the costs of any such various requirements.

There are huge job losses due to our inability to travel overseas. Media hasn't featured it for a few weeks but there was one article about how so many businesses in Bali are suffering, as domestic tourists from Jakarta are smaller in number and spend far less per day than we do there.

 

[Townsend]

Thanks Matt, great to have the podcasts back!

 

[AFF Editor]

The seven minutes on 'when will international travel resume?' could be summarised as 'no one knows'.

Glad you enjoyed the podcast.

Yes, that is a fair summary. As I said in the podcast, nobody can predict the future with any certainty at the moment so it would be naïve of me to try to do so. However, we can make educated estimates based on the information we currently have. Based on what we currently know, I would be surprised if international travel was permitted earlier than July 2021, or if it was not brought back to some extent by the end of this year, based on the current vaccination rollout timeline. As we learn more about the ability of the vaccine/s to prevent transmission of the virus, this timeline could change.

The podcast was very good (Matt has a reasonable 'radio voice' that many including me lack, so he's pleasant to listen to) but there wasn't any mention during those seven minutes of how experienced travellers, business or leisure, are often prepared to take risks after we individually assess these. Why, for instance, can't we travel as of today to Taiwan, arguably the most successful country worldwide at combating this virus?

That's a question for the governments of Australia and Taiwan.

In any case, the Australian government still has a ban in place on travel to all countries without an exemption so I am not going to encourage people to travel overseas for leisure at this point in time. Even if it were possible, it's still quite risky in terms of getting insurance (i.e. you can't) and the extreme difficulty in getting a flight home. If governments decide to start implementing travel bubbles with Australia, of course I'll talk about that in a future episode of the podcast.

At about 37:55, did Mattg mean 'preventing transmission' instead of his mentions of 'preventing infection?' Isn't the greater debate about whether the various vaccines prevent us passing on the virus to others, and that's where there's a lack of data at present?

Yes, I meant "preventing transmission" there. What I probably was trying to say was "preventing people from infecting others" - poor choice of words.

Mattg didn't cover (apart from his interesting mention of Seychelles) that keys to overseas travel returning include the willingness or otherwise of foreign governments to accept Australians, whether quarantining on arrival overseas is still necessary, what we have to do when we return to Australia and the costs of any such various requirements.

There are huge job losses due to our inability to travel overseas. Media hasn't featured it for a few weeks but there was one article about how so many businesses in Bali are suffering, as domestic tourists from Jakarta are smaller in number and spend far less per day than we do there.

Indeed there are many other angles that could be looked at - this is a huge topic - but there is only so much time available in a ~30-40 minute podcast.

Thanks Matt, great to have the podcasts back!

It's a pleasure