Is this going to be the new phrase by the gate agents as we board planes soon?
Well, its already happening. Emirates has begun carrying out rapid blood testing to screen passengers for the coronavirus before they are allowed to board the airline’s planes.
Emirates in coordination with Dubai Health Authority (DHA) will be introducing additional precautions. Passengers on a flight on Apr15, 2020 to Tunisia were all tested for COVID-19 before departing from Dubai. Emirates is the first airline to conduct on-site rapid COVID-19 tests for passengers. The quick blood test was conducted by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and results were available within 10 minutes. This test was conveniently done at the Group Check-in area of Dubai International Airport Terminal 3.
Adel Al Redha, Emirates Chief Operating Officer said: “We are working on plans to scale up testing capabilities in the future and extend it to other flights, this will enable us to conduct on-site tests and provide immediate confirmation for Emirates passengers travelling to countries that require COVID-19 test certificates. The health and safety of staff and passengers at the airport remain of paramount importance.”
Blood tests aren’t meant to diagnose COVID-19, rather they check for antibodies in the blood to determine whether a person had the virus and developed antibodies against it. The airline did not specify what would happen if a person were to test positive.
The airline’s check-in and boarding formalities have also been adapted with social distancing in mind. Protective barriers have been installed at each check-in desk to provide additional safety measures to passengers and employees during any interaction. Gloves, masks and hand sanitisers have been made mandatory for all employees at the airport.
Cabin baggage is currently not accepted on flights. Carry-on items allowed in the cabin are limited to laptop, handbag, briefcase or baby items. All other items have to be checked in, and Emirates will add the cabin baggage allowance to customers’ check-in baggage allowance.
Also, all Emirates aircraft will go through enhanced cleaning and disinfection processes in Dubai, after each journey.
It great to see Emirates being the innovator and taking these steps to really ensure that the health and safety of staff and passengers at the airport and in the aircraft remain of paramount importance.
Stay safe, stay healthy everyone.
Written by Dominic Fernandes aka CanadaPointsGuy.
Image Photo by Amir Hanna on Unsplash