Within a few days, the virus has achieved what last year's flight shame debate failed to achieve: a massive reduction in airlines' CO2 emissions. Instead of a discussion about sustainable travel and compensating for air travel, radical actions follow in one fell swoop, the likes of which the world has never seen before.
Forget the often propagated planting of trees, with which frequent flyers are supposed to reduce their ecological footprint. What governments have decided to do to prevent further spread is helping the environment enormously. Airlines have reduced their flight operations by 80 percent or are stopping them altogether. The cruise ships are emptying, no longer setting out on new voyages, and burning far less heavy fuel oil.
The environmentally harmful 9-euro bargain flights are also off the table. What's more: Not only the superfluous trips, which are only undertaken because there were cheap offers, are no longer an issue, but de facto all trips. Without it being declared directly, a travel ban will soon come into effect. It almost seems to be only a matter of time before the train also reduces its timetable to a minimum.
Questions and answersTravel and coronavirus: Can I still go on the Easter holidays now?
And that in Germany. Where everyone believes that freedom of travel and the fundamental right to vacation are guaranteed in the Basic Law. Even in our imagination we suddenly have to limit ourselves. After all, who doesn't catch themselves thinking: Can I still fly to Mallorca in July?
Where am I going to spend my summer vacation? On balconies - or even in quarantine? Do the most beautiful weeks of the year have to be canceled this year? The precarious thing about the current situation: Nobody knows how long the travel restrictions will last.
Upside down world
Only escape tourism still exists. What is meant are not the migration movements and dramas on the Turkish-Greek border, but the civilizational phenomenon that occurred not only in German metropolises but also in Madrid at the weekend: City dwellers flee to their second homes in the country and wanted to rent apartments by the sea .
If the company forces you to work from home, then at least in a nice holiday apartment on Sylt or somewhere in the mountains. But what happens when these people become medical emergencies and there aren't enough hospital beds available in the province?
The Federal Foreign Office advises against traveling abroad
The news also shows how absurd the situation has become. The world's largest tour operator Tui soberly announced on Sunday that "with the specifications of the respective governments, it was decided to suspend most of all travel activities, including package tours, cruises and hotel operations, until further notice." What a bang: there are no more holidays, for the time being. At least up to and including Easter. And that in a travel season that is so important for the industry, which should flush money into the coffers again after the sluggish winter months. Even the Foreign Office advises against traveling abroad.
Sales plummet, so much so that the travel company wants to apply for state aid. It also looks bleak for Lufthansa. The industry leader in Europe, which may well have made billions in profit last year - the final annual report will only be available on March 19 - already recorded "more cancellations than bookings" in one day last week. The airline is exploring the possibility of state aid and is relying on short-time work benefits. The whole travel industry needs so-called "liquidity aid". +++ travel ticker +++
CoronavirusAida Cruises has to cancel New Year's Eve cruises
The new abbreviation Covid-19 will change the world forever. The days of excessive travel should finally be over, for both private and business people. The latter are just realizing that the world of work can work with Skype and video conferences. Even without a morning-and-evening meeting, the world continues to exist. And let's be honest: In retrospect, one or the other visit to the trade fair that had to be canceled now seems to have actually been superfluous.
