Safety plans of airlines companies in post Covid-19

H.B. Kham

Kathmandu: As the world sees dwindling rate of deaths caused by Covid-19 and decreasing trend in the infection rates worldwide, some of the countries have started resuming international flights with some precautionary measures adopted to ensure the safety of the passengers on board.

The global aviation safety plan and global air navigation plans are considered the key parts of flight safety in addition to new precautionary measures adopted after the Covid-19 pandemic across the world.

The highlights of safety measure taken for international flights can be given as below:

1. Declaration of health status of the passengers

The passengers intending to travel abroad are made to declare their health status by filling up the health declaration forms inside the plane.

2.Use of mask

Use of mask are compulsory for the passengers on board to ensure the safety of the other passengers and oneself because this is the only way to prevent the spread of droplets of infected person while sneezing or coughing to others.

2. Use of disinfection in the cabin

Most of the airlines companies have paid enough attention to disinfection of the cabins to ensure safety of the passengers to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. This includes strict disinfection of surfaces and fixtures, seats, galleys and washrooms as per the parameters related to hygiene protocols and cleaning procedures recommended by World Health Organization (WHO).

3. Use of new uniforms

Airlines like Philippines airlines introduced a new type of uniforms for its airlines crew members that was totally secured to prevent infection of the Coronavirus. These uniforms were approved according to fashion designer and medical experts.

These crew uniforms introduced on April 14 are real personal protective gears for the safety of the cabin crew. It is said these protective gears will be useful to fight against the harms of the Covid-19 pandemic for a long time.

4. Social distancing

Asian airlines companies are introducing the social distancing technique to grapple with the spreading spree of the invisible virus. This includes seat plans located at minimum distance inside the plane and conducting regular temperature checks.

Countries like Nepal have managed airports with social distancing so that Coronavirus is not infected to fellow passengers while standing in line inside the airport before taking off.

5. Issuance of travel advisory

Some of the  airlines like US airlines have issued different travel advisory to their passengers to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Some of the US airlines have even taken the steps to block off middle seats to reduce the contact among the passengers.

These safety measures against Coronavirus are being taken as per the guidelines of Center for Disease Control (CDC). Some of the airlines have started checking temperatures of passengers prior to boarding flights.

UAE based airlines have introduced system to screen passengers for dangerous medical conditions like Covid-19, monitoring their temperatures, heat rates and respiratory rates too.

So, despite fears and uncertainly looming large among the potential air passengers, many of the countries have gradually started opening international flights with safety measures against Covid-19 to pave the way for many travelers to venture to reach their destinations without any fear and further delay.