The airlines have announced new temporary biosafety measures that they will have to implement at airports and during the flight as air traffic resumes in the coming days. The International Air Transport Association ( IATA ) released a roadmap for air travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before the flight, IATA proposes that governments collect passenger data before the trip, including information on their health status, through proven channels such as eVisa or the electronic system for travel authorization.
In the airport
– Access to the terminal will be limited to airport or airline employees and travelers (with the exception of accompanying persons with disabilities or minors).
– The body temperature will be taken at the access points to the terminal.
– There will be physical distancing throughout all passenger service processes, including lines.
– Use of masks by passengers and employees.
– Self-service for billing to minimize the confluence of people at the contact points and lines, electronic or printed boarding passes.
– Self-service luggage with printed labels from home and self-boarding.
– New design of boarding gates to reduce congestion and limitation of hand luggage.
– Cleaning and disinfection of high contact surfaces and continuous use of hand sanitizer.
During flight
– Facial protectors for all passengers and masks for the crew.
– Prepackaged food and beverage service to reduce interaction between passengers and crew.
– It is forbidden to queue to enter the bathroom.
– Deeper and improved cabin cleaning.
At the destination airport
– Temperature taking by qualified personnel.
– Automated control at customs through applications for the phone and biometric technology.
– Streamlining the process of collecting luggage to reduce lines.
– Sworn declaration of traveler’s health and effective follow-up of contacts, to reduce the risk of importing virus transmission chains.
IATA stressed that these measures will be temporary and could be superseded or removed if they become unnecessary. Airlines also support the idea of applying rapid COVID-19 tests when they are scalable and provide reliable and rapid results, as they would create a “sterilized” travel environment that would reassure both passengers and governments.
“There is no single measure that can reduce the risk by itself and guarantee a safe resumption of flights; but with a set of layered and mutually recognized global measures, we can achieve this, ”said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA CEO and CEO.