Flying Home During the Pandemic (Abu Dhabi to Frankfurt)

honestly I never thought I would see something like this if you've been following this channel for a while you'll know that I spent the entire curve in 19 logged down on the island of Socotra Yemen having arrived there just before the pandemic was declared and while life looked like this for the most part after 80 days I decided to leave and ended up spending 14 days on a cargo ship you can order that vlog on my channel after getting a coronavirus test which came back negative and a visa to enter the UAE I left the ship and had to head immediately to the airport without being able to enter the actual city of Abu Dhabi here is my experience of flying home during the pandemic I am not recommending that you travel internationally these days this video only documents my journey back home oh here we are I would have the airport departures terminal 3 this is where I leave the United Arab Emirates and this is where I leave the Middle East keep in mind they spent the last few months a long way away from glass buildings and automatic doors so being thrown into this ultra-modern world came as a bit of a culture shock I asked the guys at the shop over there how busy it is these days at the airport and they say that the airport is operating at roof about 30% capacity only these days not many flight not many people traveling signs asking you to socially distance the obligation to wear gloves glass divisions on service desks the airport was clearly doing its best to keep its passengers safe I just entered the GT free zone and everything here is sealed off boarded up shut down everything is closed I mean I didn't think I could never imagine air travel looking this post-apocalyptic where that's honestly the only way I can find to actually describe this right now it's crazy this is the section normally I would assume it's quite bustling there's probably lots of delicious things stacked up all over these shelves but right now it's completely empty it's all closed so close there's examples of social distance and measures even at the cafe tables right here this seat is meant to remain empty you can use that one I mean actually no right now you can't use any of them because everything is shut you know I'm just not used to seeing airports like this we'd be there these bustling super busy loud places with tons of people in them all empty actually a couple of shops are open just the most basic rudimentary duty-free with like alcohol protein and sweets and a couple of cafes that's it is nothing new [Music] well on the plus side all the washrooms are completely empty no queuing it looks like today this terminal is only operating six flights and any two European destinations honestly I never thought I would see something like this I mean you go to airports and they're usually these super crazy chaotic places and they give you a pretty good understanding of the world which places are connected where are people traveling to what's going on but right now everything is closed here nobody's traveling for obvious reasons nobody should be traveling but being here in the middle of what is normally the social hub a travel hub and see nobody and nothing nothing is moving the mood is completely still it feels like something I've never experienced I'm not sure if I like it no I definitely don't like it as a professional traveler I definitely don't like it but these are the times these are the things okay time to go I think my flight is open wow there it is Frankfurt Germany 7:50 a.m. I can't believe that in seven hours in seven hours from now I'll be back home by the way I've been learning Arabic and I can tell you that this definitely says [Music] [Music] all right guys this is it boarding the flight to Germany going back home officially finally after three months being able to avoid this world and disconnect all right let's do it all right ready to board it looks like there are not that many passengers on this flight so I'm really curious to see what the plane setup looks like you get social distancing even Ella Cuse [Music] the plane was almost completely empty with maybe 10% of all seats taken here's the thing about flying these days the middle row remains free people can only sit in the aisle seat I know what you'll see I'm not sure if I simply got lucky with this flight because it's hard to imagine that's what flying will look like going forward so apparently these days instead of a toothbrush and a pair of socks you get this this get a mask you get the gloves and you get sanitizer this word seems to be the new catchphrase in aviation sanitized see I had my little cleaning session but it turns out I should have just left it to the pros bacteria germs and viruses this includes 19 and all of a sudden we were off I watched Abu Dhabi disappear beneath us watched the airport from above most of it empty the fleet grounded a ghost town really the famous Formula One race schools quiet the roads almost completely empty only the nature unchanged oh yeah they did service food but I forgot to film it so here's a few clips of cute animals eating stuff all right you get the gist we flew super close to Mount Ararat in Turkey and the rest of the flight was really no different than usual except that I had to wear a mask the entire time and had a lot of space to myself I guess one more thing was different though the times we live in are tough and kind of unpredictable I got to spend the last few months in a kind of blissful bubble away from the chaos and all the fear but I was now on my way right into the heart of the pandemic in Europe you can probably imagine I had mixed feelings Frankfurt one of the busiest airports in Europe felt completely deserted okay welcome to Frankfurt officially back in Europe after six months in the midst of an ongoing pandemic right this is real by the way let's see what life is like from now on but I believe it'll be quite different from what you guys are used to seeing on my feeds over the last few months and so here I am back home [Music] [Music] waa waa waa waa waa waa suck Pahlavi [Music]

Channel: Eva zu Beck

Views: 800,492

Keywords: etihad airways, abu dhabi airport, air travel, frankfurt airport, flying during coronavirus, covid-19 travel, coronavirus travel, pandemic travel

Id: 124xrwJqQk4

Length: 9min 46sec (586 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 05 2020