European Union Aviation Safety Agency widens Covid-19 safety program

EASA has added Munich Airport to its list of pilot airports intended to set an example of safe travel during the Covid-19 pandemic.

These international airports, which also include Frankfurt, Brussels, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol, are to demonstrate how to implement the recommendations devised by EASA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

EASA says it is aiming to ensure hygiene measures it has recommended are being put into practice as consistently as possible across Europe. The measures include wearing mandatory face coverings, maintaining social distancing wherever possible and providing hand sanitizer dispensers.

It notes particular attention is being paid to making the check-in and baggage drop processes as contact-free as possible, while also wanting all stages of air travel to be taken into account. This starts the moment passengers enter an airport building, continuing through the check-in, security and customs processes, and extending to the time that passengers spend on board the aircraft. Consequently, in addition to the airports, numerous European airlines are involved in EASA’s large-scale test program.