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The controversy broke out on social media, but it goes much further, since it involves deputies and requests an audience from the Minister of Transport. The Spanish airline Iberia is under fire after several passengers on flight IB3838 on Sunday, which connected Madrid with the island of Gran Canaria, denounced, through videos and photos, that the plane they followed was practically full, without respecting the social distance. recommended by health authorities regarding the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Shame”, “strange” and “lamentable spectacle” were some of the words used by Iberia passengers to define the situation, in publications that they put online.
Where is the safety distance? @Iberia? Go to the plane completely, and there is no point of conflict between the passengers. This is SHAME. @the country @eldiarioes @the world is pic.twitter.com/HnOJDluCkh
– Efrén Hernández (@efren_hr) May 10, 2020
Good morning you flew on the Iberia flight to Madrid – Gran Canaria. The situation was as follows. At the airport, we request all the usual security measures in this situation. Once at the port of embarkation I saw a flock of people in the port. pic.twitter.com/4CEigKGW9j
– javi martin ramos (@ javimartinramo1) May 11, 2020
Here is PICARESCA ESPAÑOLA and what is still on Monday.
We have the first SHORTABLE SHOW by Iberia putting the entire population at risk.
Where is the safety distance from?
ALREADY convenient.pic.twitter.com/WUXTN9z1iN– Marc ???????? (@amaerx) May 10, 2020
A friend of mine had a flight from Madrid – Gran Canaria with Iberia today. So this is the situation. Civil Guard on the way. Pilot “had” through megaphone that he wanted to fly back to the plane. AMAZING pic.twitter.com/MoqqZOwG1G
– Do I follow you now ???????? (@AytamiArbelo) May 10, 2020
Flights between the mainland and the Spanish islands are currently allowed, but passengers must present a declaration of responsibility regarding the reasons for the trip, which must be “valid in May”. Several of the passengers on this flight explained that, at the airport, where they kept their distance, they were not told that they would fly in a nearly full plane. However, due to their complaints, upon arriving in Gran Canaria they were able to file a complaint with a Civil Guard agent, according to El País.
Iberia responded to criticism on Monday, stressing that it complies with “all the measures” necessary to protect its passengers and denying that it is mandatory to leave a distance between passengers, as some of the complainants affirmed. “Both industries, with IATA [Associação Internacional do Transporte Aéreo] Conversely, as the manufacturer Airbus recently stated that locking the center seat is a measure that is not necessary to provide more security, because the plane has specific characteristics that make the risk of contagion low, “the company said in a statement, cited by La Vanguardia, which also points to the use of HEPA filters in the aircraft’s air conditioning, which have an efficiency of “99.99%”, according to Iberia, to eliminate viruses and bacteria.
Furthermore, they reinforce, as El País points out, that the guidelines given by the state of alarm only indicate that the transport companies “should seek maximum separation, but do not indicate specific restrictions.”
The situation was so controversial that it has already led the president of the Canary Islands autonomous government, Ángel Víctor Torres (PSOE) to announce that he is analyzing the situation “so that the relevant responsibilities can be determined.” But other deputies in the national Congress, from different parties in the Canary Islands, want to go even further. The deputy of the Canary Islands Coalition, Ana Oramas, and the deputy of Nova Canarias, Pedro Quevedo, requested the immediate intervention of the Ministry of Transport in this matter.
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