14 March 2020

COVID-19: Alitalia passengers must wear protective breathing masks on board

To protect safety and health, the measure comes into force with immediate effect

The health and safety of travellers and employees has always been Alitalia's top priority. For this reason, Alitalia informs passengers that they will be asked to provide themselves, before boarding the plane, with a protective breathing mask which must be worn if a large number of travelers on board doesn’t allow to respect the 1-meter interpersonal safety distance.

The measure comes into force with immediate effect and is part of the protocols against infection that have been adopted by Alitalia in accordance with the provisions of the competent Authorities.

Alitalia could therefore deny boarding to passengers who will not be in possession of the personal protective devices. Alitalia recommends travelers to wear protective breathing mask also at airports and during boarding and disembarking from aircraft.

The new safety procedure comes on the heels of the other extraordinary measures adopted by Alitalia to protect the health of travelers and employees, sometimes also through the redesign of the onboard service. Furthermore, in order to limit the spread of COVID-19, Alitalia has increased the cleaning activities on its entire fleet, with daily disinfection and sanitation of all the surfaces in the aircraft cabins.

Alitalia crews are trained to activate, if necessary, the health protocol provided to protect travelers from the risk of contamination. Crew members also have on planes a biohazard kit available to deal with passengers with suspicious symptoms, latex gloves to collect items distributed on board and protective breathing masks to be used during service. All of Alitalia aircraft fleet are equipped with hospital grade high-efficiency particulate (HEPA) filters which ensure 99.7% cleaning of the cabin air and completely exchange with fresh air thirty times per hour.

Staff at airports may also use protective breathing masks and latex gloves during service. Furthermore, Alitalia has established a quota system for access to the lounges with the aim of ensuring compliance with the safety distances established by the Italian Government's provisions. Alitalia has also adopted smart working solutions to keep its ground employees as safe as possible preventing the spread of the disease.

Edited by Alisè Vitri

Text source: Alitalia Press Office

Visual: Sisterscom.com / Colin Porteous / Shutterstock

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