KQ drafts a raft of protocols ahead of returning to the sky

You will have to arrive two hours early for your local flight wearing a mask and ready for a slow check-in process in order to fly in the new Covid-19 era as airlines make plans to stay in the skies in the face of the pandemic.

These are parts of the plans Kenya Airways will be implementing in a raft of proposals seen by the Nation.

This comes even as the Transport ministry meets with aviation players within the next week to formulate a procedure for the reopening of domestic routes as instructed on Saturday by President Kenyatta.

“In the meantime, the Ministry of Transport is directed within seven days, to engage all key stakeholders and develop protocols to guide resumption of local air travel,” he said.

Late last month Kenya Airways CEO Allan Kilavuka said once the ban on flights is lifted, the airline would undertake a gradual return to skies module, starting with local routes before venturing out to the international routes.

“The return will be tiered and progressive in response to observed demand, keeping to those routes that would build traffic for us fast,” he said.

For aviation players and airlines, the return to the skies on the domestic routes will most likely include a Covid-19 free certificate given that the two major airports—the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the Mombasa International Airport—sit in regions currently under cessation of movement regulations.

Both Nairobi and Mombasa remain as the country’s Covid-19 hotspots with the former leading with over 1,275 cases, while Mombasa has 873 cases as at yesterday evening.

Last month, Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said that the Covid-19 free certificate will be the new normal including travellers arriving into the country from abroad, but “this may be extended to many others as the country looks to reopen businesses.”

The post Covid-19 protocols by Kenya Airways touch on seven key areas including terminals, check-ins, immigration and security, boarding zones, in-flight, transfers and arrivals.

Now, passengers on both international and domestic flights will see a one-hour increase in check-in times pushing upwards the total waiting time by local and international travellers to two and three hours respectively.

At the terminals, guests, who will be expected to wear masks, will be expected to wait in line, stepping on floor markings indicative of social distancing as their temperatures are checked using thermoguns. The baggage areas will also be inspected at intervals.

At the check-in counters, airline staff will be expected to sanitise after serving each guest. The counters have been retrofitted with antimicrobial screens to minimize any viral transfers between guests and staff. The same will be expected at the immigration and security counters.

Boarding of aircraft will be done strictly based on zones and not priority, with passengers on the waiting bays expected to wear their face masks and adhere to the social distancing rule within the sitting lobbies.

At the boarding zones, the seats will be arranged to maintain social distance, with sanitisers available for guests. Boarding gates will be cleaned and disinfected at intervals in line with public health measures issued by the Health ministry.

In-flight, all KQ cabin crew, will ditch their fancy uniforms and will be expected to wear personal protective equipment, with the guests expected to have their masks on all through the flight.

Meal boxes, packages, cutlery, pastries, sweets, and refreshening towels will all be single wrapped, with the introduction of individual packaging of towels/blankets, which will now be used once and disposed. Before the pandemic, the blankets and pillows were used on multiple occasions.

After each flight, Kenya Airways will be deep cleaning and disinfecting the aircraft, a pointer of longer turnaround times and an additional cost to the airline. Inflight, there will also be regular cleaning and disinfection of the aircraft.

The document, however, remains silent on the seating arrangement and weather the airline is considering reworking its seating plans within the aircraft to conform with the new social distancing requirements.

Upon arrivals, and for those flights that will require passenger transfers between the tarmac and their terminals, Kenya Airways says there will be reduced capacity in the transfer buses to maintain social distancing, another indication of added cost to factor in more buses that will accommodate passengers.

Once the passengers arrive at the terminals, they will have their temperatures taken, and then use the baggage trolleys, which will be disinfected at intervals.