When flight operations resume, passengers may be required to wear protective masks. A corresponding proposal for the time from boarding over the entire flight until after leaving the aircraft can be found in a concept paper from the German aviation industry, which is available from the German Press Agency. The "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported first.
"When boarding, on the plane for the duration of the flight and when disembarking, make sure that every passenger wears a protective mask," says the paper. The passengers should also be held responsible. "There is a corresponding obligation on the passenger to carry and wear a protective mask."
Airlines present 20-point program for comeback of flights
The 20-point program also provides for numerous measures at the airports to comply with the corona-based distance requirement. These include airier queues and areas, the use of more passenger buses and time-consuming processes such as boarding and baggage handling. At the departure airports, passengers could also be checked for fever. Basically, passengers would have to state at check-in that they have no contagious diseases.
The paper, on the other hand, does not include the latest suggestion by Easyjet boss Johan Lundgren to leave the middle seat in the rows of three. This would immediately reduce the space available on the plane by a third. Because of the corona virus pandemic, the entire Easyjet fleet is currently on the ground.
"Temperature screening" possible, no to rapid blood tests
German providers fear a disadvantage compared to foreign airlines if they fill their planes more. With a forecast drop in revenue of around 55 percent according to the IATA aviation association, a free middle seat would also overturn all forecasts, which already look a little rosy. Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary already spoke of a price war with tickets for less than ten euros in a recovery phase.
Another idea for a security measure is not well received by German airlines. Emirates campaigned to have all passengers on a flight run a rapid blood test in a test run with local health authorities, and the results were available after only ten minutes. In contrast to possible "temperature screening", such measures are not mentioned in the paper. According to "FAZ", there should be massive doubts in industry circles about the reliability of the antibody tests.
The transition phase should initially apply for six weeks – the start is unclear
The proposals to the federal government have been coordinated between airlines and airports at national level. They should initially apply for a period of six weeks, the authors suggest. When this transition phase should begin is still open.
A starting point could be relaxation of travel restrictions. The Foreign Office's travel warning currently applies until May 3 inclusive. There are similar considerations at European level without concrete proposals.
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