Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 6) — A series of safety protocols await airline passengers and crew at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport once commercial air travel resumes.
Aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus disease, safety precautions have been adopted by the Manila International Airport Authority to protect passengers and airport employees.
The safety measures, all part of the “new normal” in air travel, were announced by the Department of Transportation on Wednesday.
Health checks
Those entering the airport complex shall undergo mandatory body temperature check, the DOTr said.
No less than 81 infrared thermometer scanners shall be used at the NAIA.
All departing passengers shall be required to electronically fill out a health declaration form and passenger locator form for the purpose of contact tracing if needed later.
Authorities will also put up posters on safety precaution in the airport premises.
No manual frisking, but…
To avoid physical contact, manual frisking will be reserved for “exceptional instances or situations,” the DOTr said.
Instead, security checks shall be conducted through the use of x-ray machines, portable scanners, handheld metal detectors, it added.
Floor markers, acrylic barriers
Yellow floor markers in all queuing points will be set up to ensure people maintain distance from each other, MIAA general manager Ed Monreal said.
The airport chief asked airlines to instruct their check-in personnel to assist the MIAA in ensuring that passengers will follow this guideline.
The installation of acrylic barriers in all check-in counters and help desks in the four NAIA terminals is ongoing. The DOTr said 57 out of 330 check-in counter barriers have been installed.
Sanitization
All NAIA facilities, including aerobridges, baggage conveyors, check-in counters, immigration, customs and other help desks will be constantly sanitized, the officials said.
Foot baths that have been set up in all entry and exit points, such as boarding bridges and in similar areas where passengers leave or board an aircraft.
Foot baths disinfect the soles of footwear of people entering the facility.
Personal protective equipment
MIAA is stockpiling washable face masks as wearing the protective gear will be the ‘new normal,’ Monreal said.
The agency has also sought the assistance of the Bureau of Quarantine in choosing what type of personal protective equipment is appropriate for its frontline employees.
“MIAA service providers were also told to provide face masks for their employees and to ensure that they get the kind of protection needed for the kind of work that they do following the recommendation of the Bureau of Quarantine,” the DOTr said.
General community quarantine is currently implemented in all parts of the country except for National Capital Region, Calabarzon, Central Luzon (excluding Aurora), Pangasinan, Benguet, including Baguio City, Albay, Iloilo, Cebu, including Cebu City, Bacolod City, and Davao City, Zamboanga City, which are under a more stringent enhanced community quarantine. This situation will last until May 15, unless extended or modified by the government.
The quarantine measures have been put in place since March to restrict the movement of people and tame spread of the highly contagious virus.
