While Air France-KLM and SNCF ensure that they respect the rules, astonishment, even annoyance, is gaining ground.
While the epidemic is in panic and the constraints weigh more and more on the French, some deplore the lack of controls in transport. Like Adrien, returned this Sunday from the United Arab Emirates (UAE): “No one asked me for anything when I arrived at Roissy: no test, no health pass. On the other hand, when I left Abu Dhabi, the airline checked my test. They are not kidding“.
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On paper, nothing to report since the UAE is considered a country “green»By the Quai d’Orsay from and to France. This list, updated according to the pandemic, brings together the “territories in which no active circulation of the virus is observed and no variants of concern have been identified“. To return from the UAE, you must have a negative test less than 48 hours before boarding, regardless of the vaccination status of the passengers. Random checks can be made on arrival, but Adrien assures us, “I haven’t seen one in Paris. The company must consider that the job is done“.
Variable geometry
Despite everything, astonishment is gaining ground. “When I return to Paris from Barcelona, no one asks me for my health pass. But when I go there, the Spanish authorities make me fill out a form to find out if I have been vaccinated and what dose I have received.“, Notes Justine, who adds that it is purely”declarative“. Alicia is more measured: “I returned from Seville with Transavia [filiale d’Air France-KLM] last week and had to add my health pass to get my boarding pass“.
Indeed from Spain, vaccinated passengers do not have to present a test. Contacted by Le Figaro, Air France-KLM indicates that it checks the supporting documents for all its passengers on departure using its staff on the ground or online via its traveldoc dematerialized platform. “On arrival, it is up to the local authorities to check (customs, police) whether such measures are in force. Airlines do everything to ensure passenger safety», Explains the spokesperson of the company. This is confirmed by Hamza, who left for the United Kingdom (country “orange“) Via British Airways:”They have been fairly vigilant in France as in England. The company verified my pass and my test when checking baggage“.
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Whether in the air or on trains, these scattered checks have become a subject of mockery on social media. Because the SNCF also has the obligation to check the sanitary pass of its passengers in the TGV, Intercités and Ouigo.
A regular on the Paris-Rennes line, Margaux admits to never having been checked. Conversely, Jeanne’s health pass is systematically verified from Nantes to Paris; “not in the other direction“. The SNCF nevertheless affirms “take government action very seriously. Since the obligation, we control on average one train in four; one in three since the start of the holidays“. She adds that she called for reinforcements, the famous “blue vests“. “What’s more, checks, which most often take place before boarding, can take place during the trip and even on arrival.“. What would happen to a passenger unable to show a health pass? “A fine and the risk of getting out at the next stop“. Despite our requests, the Ministry of Transport did not wish to speak.
So be careful with those who wish to deviate from the rule. If the checks are not automatic, they can be expensive. It is clear that the airlines and railways had to adapt very quickly to the requests of the executive, depending on the health situation.
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