Aer Lingus is set to undertake an investigation after pictures shared on social media show a flight almost full and having no apparent social distancing precautions.
The airline has declared that any necessary changes in their operating strategy will be put in place as a “matter of urgency.”
The shocking photos show the plane filled start to end with passengers from a Belfast to London Heathrow flight, clearly ignoring any social distancing measures.
One of the passengers of the flight, Sean Mallon, spoke to BBC Radio Ulster about the matter. He said there was “no social distancing whatsoever” on the plane.
“I would say there was about 95% of the seats taken on the flight,” the concerned passenger said.
Just a week back, air travelers severely criticized social distancing measures on flights saying that people were being loaded on the airplanes “like sardines.”
There’ve also been pictures from the last week showing passengers packed on flights including a British Airways flight between Heathrow and Barcelona and another one from Turkey.
On the other hand, British Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, has suggested that foreigners traveling to Britain might have to undergo mandatory quarantine.
A traveler on a BA flight from last Wednesday said that the complete ignorance of social distancing practices on flights “makes a complete mockery of the lockdown rules.”
They further said: “There was no requirement to wear masks. Everyone was sitting within inches of their fellow passengers.”
A traveler on Pegasus Airlines flight bound for Stansted from Turkey, 21-year-old personal trainer Gemma Bain, also revealed that her flight was jam-packed with passengers.
She said: “The crew had full protective kits on but we had nothing. It was really worrying. This was an emergency rescue flight but it seemed to pay no regard to Government guidelines.”
As of now, there are no rules of social distancing for flights but concerned authorities are starting to tighten the checks and inspections performed on passengers before they get on board.
The Chief Executive of Heathrow, John Holland-Kaye, has said that the major international airports across the UK do not have enough space and resources to practice social distancing to ensure safe travel after the lockdown ends.
John has called on the PM to formulate an “international standard” with other heads of governments to screen passengers for the virus before they board flights.
According to John, the delay in opening airports will result in “massive job losses in our sector… (and) many other sectors that depend on us.”
He has suggested putting in place checks on all major international airports across the globe including temperature screening, personal hygiene, and the use of appropriate personal protection equipment.
Easy Jet, the famous European budget airline is planning to remove the middle row of seats to implement social distancing, but industry experts fear it will increase ticket costs beyond the affordability of the passengers.
Shapps said in a statement at the Andrew Marr Show that he is “actively looking at” necessary quarantine measures for people flying in from abroad.
He said: “I think it is important that as we are seeing the numbers decrease and the R rate we hope decrease… that we do ensure that the sacrifices in a sense – social distancing – that we are asking the British people to make are matched by anybody who comes to this country.
“I am actively looking at these issues right now so that when we have infection rates within the country under control we are not importing.”
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