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Maintaining physical distance at airports is “impossible,” said the head of London’s Heathrow airport.
“Social distancing simply cannot work on any transportation system,” said John Holland-Kaye, executive director of Europe’s busiest airport, in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
“Yesterday I was in the terminals looking at the social distancing that we have with only a few thousand passengers a day, and it is already difficult to manage. Therefore, it is impossible to have social distancing at an airport, much less on the plane.”
Governments will have to accept international standards to ensure that people feel comfortable flying in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, he said.
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Passengers outside Auckland International Airport on April 8.
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In an interview with the BBC, Holland-Kaye said that until a Covid-19 vaccine is available, airports would have to introduce measures to keep people safe.
“This could include some type of health examination when you enter the terminal so that if you have a high temperature, you are not allowed to fly.
“When passing through the airport, you will probably wear a face mask, as people in Asia have been doing since the Sars virus came out.”
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Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said airports would have to introduce measures to prevent the spread of the infection.
New Zealand airports are encouraging passengers to comply with the government’s physical distance rule under Alert Level Three: “Outside your home, you must continue to maintain a distance of 2 meters from people at all times.”
However, photographs of passengers queuing at check-in desks show that the rule is not always followed.
An Auckland woman named Christine who did not want her last name to be released said passengers waiting to board their Air New Zealand flight to Wellington on April 28 were not spaced out.
“They all stood in line as they did in the days before Covid. If someone left a space, another passenger would jump into it.”
Auckland Airport General Operations Manager Anna Cassels-Brown said Things In late April, the airport had introduced measures to adhere to physical distancing protocols.
AP
People gather at the domestic flight terminal of Gimpo Airport in Seoul, South Korea, on April 29.
“Auckland airport has restricted the number of passengers at the terminal to 600 per consecutive hour and has requested slot requests to have no more than two wide-body aircraft and one repatriation flight departing on our runway in one hour.”
“We also hope that social distancing will continue at every point of the journey for the foreseeable future.
“Throughout the terminal, wherever queues form, we have markings on the two-meter floor to show passengers the recommended space. We also reinforce this by reminding passengers through signage and PA announcements to keep their distance. necessary and follow the Ministry of Health (MOH) guidelines on health and wellness, such as washing hands. “
At Heathrow, the GMB union called for urgent measures to protect airport workers after two flights arrived at the same time this week and only one conveyor belt was used for the bags of the 500 passengers, according to the BBC report.
“No social distancing was imposed in what was a very busy area,” said Trevlyn McLeod, organizer for the GMB region in London. “These are not safe conditions for passengers, and they are not safe working conditions for our members.
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German tourists queue to check in for their flight at Christchurch International Airport on April 6.
“Enforcing social distancing is essential for our airport members and passengers to feel that their lives are more important than money.”
Singapore-based aviation marketing consultancy SimpliFlying has predicted that future flights could see travelers arriving at the airport at least four hours early to undergo health checks, “clean their bags” and go through a “tunnel of disinfection”.
“Getting large numbers of people to fly again will depend on giving them peace of mind that they will not rub elbows (or bump their elbows in the economy) with infectious fellow travelers,” Chief Executive Shashank Nigam said.
Nigam said there must be a single authority to set global standards for health-related issues at the airport and on planes.
“Similar to the creation of the US Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) after September 11, I think it will be necessary to have a global Transportation Health Authority (THA).
“This will have to be managed by the International Civil Aviation Organization, the World Health Organization and the Airports Council International.
“In an ideal situation, we want consistent health assessments and policies around the world, because the inconsistency will only further frustrate travelers and suppress demand.”
