The prospect of four-hour check-in for flights has been raised as medical tests are added to procedures at airports in the post-coronavirus world.
Travellers could also face higher air fares and more limited airline schedules in the future.
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The overall experience could be “very uncomfortable” with pre-pandemic levels of service unlikely for up to five years, analysts predicted.
Some form of health screening is widely expected to be demanded before and after passengers fly to prevent a second wave of the virus after lockdown measures are eased.
One expert told The Times that four-hour waits before departures could be expected as medical tests were added to the normal pre-flight ritual of check-in, security, passport control and boarding.
It is also likely that social distancing will be maintained on aircraft, with warnings that as few as 20% of seats may be filled to keep passengers at least two metres apart.
Another analyst said that budget airlines typically had to fill at least 80% of seats to break even, so passengers could expect a big increase in prices. Unprofitable routes will be abolished.
The predications were made as Wizz Air said that passengers will be required to wear face masks when flights resume to 15 destinations from Luton airport tomorrow (Friday). Cabin crew will also wear masks and gloves and distribute sanitising wipes to passengers.
Lufthansa will stipulate face masks for passengers on flights and in airports from Monday.
Andrew Charlton, managing director of Swiss-based consultancy Aviation Advocacy, said that compulsory pre-flight health checks would also be the norm, even if they doubled waiting times at airports.
“Even if it starts raining vaccines tonight, we are still looking at two years at least to get back to levels seen before the outbreak, and it is probably going to be more like five years,” he told The Times.
“There will be fewer flights, fewer seats available, prices will go up and there will be very uncomfortable conditions because of the demands to wear personal protective equipment and maintain social distancing.
“Whereas we used to be able to turn up at the airport an hour or two before departure, we could see something as horrible as four hours as health checks are added to the usual palaver of check-in, security and immigration,” added Charlton, a former official at Iata and chief legal officer for Qantas.
One suggestion has been that passenger numbers would be cut by a third to maintain social distancing on aircraft, with the middle seat being left empty in each row of three.
Paul Zalkin, a partner at the business advisory firm Quantuma, said: “Budget airlines operate at a break-even load factor well in excess of 80%, so taking out all middle seats will not work, unless all the window and aisle seat passengers subsidise the empty middle seats. That would mean much higher ticket prices.”
Tim Alderslade, chief executive of industry body Airlines UK, repeated calls for the government to step in to “help this industry survive”.
He said: “The risk is they’re wedded to a historic mindset where the market wins out and there is a limit to what ministers can do.
“In a way we’re a victim of our own success; open skies and the liberalisation of air travel has been great for consumers and we’ve got more airlines operating than ever before. But there comes a point where you have to protect UK interests.”
Wizz Air UK managing director Owain Jones said: “As we restart selected Luton flights to provide an essential service to passengers who need to travel, our primary concern is the health, safety and well-being of our customers and crew.
“The protective measures that we are implementing will ensure the most sanitary conditions possible.
“We encourage our customers to watch our new video on how to stay safe when travelling, as well as for more details on our new health and safety measures.”
