Travelling by air is a little different at the moment. Our reporter Hedi Mehrez flew from London to his home country, France.

I booked my tickets shortly after the UK government eased travel restrictions.

But before I was even allowed to jump on a plane, British Airways cancelled my flight four times. I kept rebooking for later flights and ended up leaving on Monday, July 27 in the late afternoon.

I travelled from Swindon to London with National Express. The bus was fairly empty, with lots of spaces between each passenger.

On my way to the airport, the driver did not take my temperature, but he did on my way back to Swindon.

I arrived at Heathrow Terminal 5 three hours before my flight. I cleaned my hands at one of the hand-sanitising stations in the entrance. There are stations everywhere in each terminal and the toilets.

I felt much more anxious than usual about flying and had my own hand sanitiser as well as five masks.

Masks are compulsory at the airport for all passengers aged 11 and over. I do not have any breathing problems, but I found it really difficult to travel for several hours while wearing one.

The airport is trialling temperature checks in Terminal 2 and Terminal 5, but mine was not taken.

Most passengers were wearing a mask except a few who pulled it down below their chin. Staff had their masks on, and some wore gloves, especially at security checkpoints.

I went to security and had to briefly remove my mask to be identified. It was well organised, and I only spent a few minutes there as it was almost empty.

With the majority of shops and cafés closed, I found that the airport was quieter than usual.

At the gate, they called us by row to ease the boarding process. The plane to Paris was half full but my flight back was packed.

The plane was clean and, during the flight, they gave us a bag containing crisps, water and pretzels. I did not want to remove my mask on the plane, so I decided to eat them once in Paris.

The crew asked passengers to remain seated during the disembarkation and leave the plane from the front, row by row. It was actually better and more organised than in “normal times”.

Some people were given health declarations to sign, saying that they do not have coronavirus symptoms but I was not. At Paris Charles de Gaulle terminal 2A, passengers were offered a free coronavirus test.

Overall, wearing a mask for the whole journey was uncomfortable, but passenger safety comes first.