Passengers on all flights of KLM, the Dutch subsidiary of Air France KLM, must wear face masks during travel starting on Monday, the airline said in a statement.
Like most major carriers, KLM has grounded almost all its airplanes due to the coronavirus pandemic, but is still operating a small number of flights.
“Wearing facial protection during boarding and on board is mandatory for KLM passengers. Passengers must ensure that they carry the required facial protection with them,” KLM said. Passengers without adequate facial protection may be refused boarding at the gate, it added.
The measure applies until 31 August 2020. Children under 10 years of age are exempt.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the body representing global airlines, has come out in favour of passengers wearing masks onboard, as debate intensifies over how to get airlines flying while respecting social-distancing rules following the coronavirus crisis.
Air France, the French subsidiary of Air France KLM, announced the same safety precautions on May 5, while Germany’s Lufthansa and Hungary’s low cost Wizz Air are among other European airlines to already have made it compulsory to wear face masks on flights.
On Saturday a major U.S. airline trade group said it backed the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checking the temperatures of passengers and customer-facing employees during the coronavirus pandemic.
Airlines for America, which represents the largest U.S. airlines including American Airlines, United Airlines , Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines, said the checks “will add an extra layer of protection for passengers as well as airline and airport employees. Temperature checks also will provide additional public confidence that is critical to relaunching air travel and our nation’s economy.”
A U.S. official said Saturday no decision has been made on whether to mandate the checks, but said the issue is the subject of extensive talks among government agencies and with U.S. airlines and added a decision could potentially be made as early as next week.
One possible route would be for a pilot project or to initially begin temperature checks at the largest U.S. airports. Questions remain about what the government would do if someone had a high temperature and was turned away from a flight.
U.S. officials said the temperature checks would not eliminate the risk of coronavirus cases but could act as a deterrent to prevent people who were not feeling well from traveling.
In another blow to the airline industry, Britain is set to introduce a 14-day quarantine period for almost everyone arriving into the country to avoid a second peak of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the report, under measures that are likely to come into force in early June, travellers will have to provide the address at which they will self-isolate on arrival.
Finally Avianca Holdings, Latin America’s second-largest airline, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, after failing to meet a bond payment deadline, while its pleas for coronavirus aid from Colombia’s government have so far been unsuccessful.
If it fails to come out of bankruptcy, Bogota-based Avianca would be one of the first major carriers worldwide to go under as a result of the pandemic, which has crippled world travel.
Avianca has not flown a regularly scheduled passenger flight since late March and most of its 20,000 employees have gone without pay through the crisis.
“Avianca is facing the most challenging crisis in our 100-year history,” Avianca Chief Executive Anko van der Werff said in a news release.
While Avianca was already weak before the coronavirus outbreak, its bankruptcy filing highlights the challenges for airlines that cannot count on state rescues or on such rescues coming fast enough. Avianca is still hoping for a government bailout.
REUTERS