New CAA travel advisory for reinforcing social-distancing on flights
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The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) on Tuesday issued a new travel advisory for those travelling at home and abroad reinforcing social-distancing policy during air travel, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
The Travel Advisory will be effective from August 26 to October 31, the CAA said.
The new policy restored social distance during travel. It means, now airlines will have to maintain social distances among passengers’ seats to contain the spread of COVID-19.
As per the guidelines issued, Airlines will have to maintain and provide the mobile numbers of passengers to health authorities. Health declaration forms are mandatory now while passengers will be provided hand sanitizers after every hour by the airlines. The new guidelines reinforced mandatory face-masks for all passengers.
CAA put a ban on all kinds of protocols for passengers travelling on domestic or foreign flights.
While the airport managers will be responsible to implement social-distancing guidelines in airlines, the CAA said that.
On 17 July, Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority abolished social-distancing rule during the international flights for the same family members that allowed all members of a family to sit together during international travel. The CAA wrote letters to all airport managers and airlines in this regard.
The CAA move has come one day after the Emirates airline said it was unrealistic to establish social distancing on aircraft by leaving seats empty to curb the spread of coronavirus, as the cost would be too high to bear.
All this talk about social distancing inside the aircraft is nice," Boutros Boutros, Emirates' head of corporate communications, told a business conference in Dubai. "But... we would like to go back to normal."
"The economy of the aircraft is built on filling it, filling the seats," he said. "Having space (empty) I don't think is going to be an option unless the passenger is willing to pay. What we wish for is one thing, but the reality is another."