Coronavirus: Social distancing takes flight as airlines in Asia-Pacific experiment with putting space between passengers
- Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific pledges to offer passengers option of sitting next to an empty seat, while other regional carriers say it will be mandatory
- Taiwanese carriers to deny boarding to those with temperatures higher than 37.5 Celsius or who refuse to be checked
Airlines across the Asia-Pacific region are ramping up measures to boost confidence in travel by introducing in-flight social distancing, mandatory temperature checks and requiring passengers to wear masks as Covid-19 sweeps across the globe.
Cathay Pacific Airways and Virgin Australia said they would offer passengers the option of sitting next to a vacant seat, while Air New Zealand (AirNZ) said it would force travellers to sit apart.
In the toughest measures made by airlines yet, Taiwan’s China Airlines and Eva Air said on Saturday that all travellers with a forehead temperature of over 37.5 degrees Celsius or who refused to be checked would be denied boarding. Both airlines said masks must be worn during flights and could only be taken off to consume food and drink.
Carriers have been pushed to the brink by sweeping travel restrictions designed to combat the coronavirus while worries about the safety of air travel have seen the appetite to fly collapse in a matter of weeks as the virus spreads worldwide.
While AirNZ was coy about how its social distancing would work, it appeared every passenger would get a window seat and all other seats to either side of the aisle would be blocked for sale.