Kathmandu, Jun 5
The Civil
Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has issued fresh guidelines to operate
flight services during the coronavirus emergency with the provision of status
card for the domestic passengers and crew members, and passenger locator card
for the international flights.
The passengers
and crew members have to fill up the status card which demands the information
like the COVID-19 check up and details of health problems. Anyone filling up
false information and using flight service would be punished. Passengers of
international flights should fill up the Passenger Locator Card and submit it
to the health desk at the airport.
The 'Guidance to
airlines, airports and ground services for operations during COVID-19' is
issued with the objective of providing a source of best practices on how the airport,
airline operators should conduct commercial and non-commercial flights. It aims
at protecting the passengers from the COVID-19 infection at the airports and in
flights.
It applies to
all stakeholders including air operators, airport operators, ground service
providers, aviation personnel, airport staff, and other concerned agencies.
The guidelines were issued on Wednesday as the nation
was prepared to receive Nepali nationals from foreign countries, specially the Gulf
countreis and Malaysia. On Friday, Nepalis from Burma and the United Arab
Emirates were rescued.
Although the date of the resumption of the aviation
service for the domestic flights is still unknown, the service is likely to
resume from the next month as the government is mulling to relax the lockdown
in the less risky areas.
The CAAN said that initially only limited flights to
some specific sectors based on safety assessment would be allowed. Gradual
increment in schedule will be executed based on evaluation of situation.
According to the guidelies, the passengers with
suggestive coronavirus symptoms like fever, cough, shortness of breath and loss
of taste or smell would not be accepted for flight and everyone should be
wearing a medical mask.
"Only those passengers will be accepted for
flight if the mandatory temperature screening results in 38 degree farenheight
or lower. They should follow cough etiquette and carry adequate number of
medical face masks for entire duration of travel starting from check in to bagage
claim," read the guidelines.
Meeting and greeting at airport would not be
permitted, passengers should bring their personal belongings like pens and
sanitising towels, and onboard newspapers and magazines would not be available.
Likewise, inflight catering in domestic flight,
onboard sale and pet animals are barred.
It is advised the passengers aged above 70 years,
pregnant women and individuals with serious medical problems should avoid air
travel.
The airlines companies should educate their staff members
from qualified medical practitioner, as far as practicable, to regognise the
symptoms of COVID-19 and provide instructions on actions to be taken if
passengers develop such symptoms during flight.
Each airlines operator shold develop a standard
operation procedure to run services during the health crisis and submit it to
the CAAN for approval prioro to resumption of flight, according to the
guidelines.
The aviation sector regulator has maintained that the
aircraft should be disinfected as per the CAAN prescribed methods
It asked the
companies to promote paperless check-in and boarding with mobile app, arrange
hand sanitiser for the passengers and crew, ensure physical distancing during
check-in, embarkation and disembarkation, provide face masks, gloves, goggles
to the crew and disinfect the passenger bus before each trip.
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