Installing partitions and boarding in order... Changing in-flight customs amid 'COVID-19'

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] As the untact (non-contact) culture spreads amid the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) crisis, the scenes at airports and inside aircraft are also changing. National airlines are attempting 'social distancing' both at airports and onboard, while preparing various measures to minimize contact between people in case of possible infections.

According to the industry on the 14th, Jeju Air will install 'Safe Counters' at domestic flight counters in seven airports nationwide, starting with Jeju Airport. Safe Counters refer to ticket counters equipped with transparent partitions. This is interpreted as a measure to protect passengers and airport staff from possible droplet transmission.

Previously, Jeju Air introduced a 'Self Barcode Recognition' system to minimize contact throughout the process from check-in to boarding. Passengers show their boarding pass to staff in front of the barcode reader, the staff visually checks for any abnormalities, and passengers without issues scan the barcode at the bottom of the boarding pass themselves before proceeding to the aircraft.

National airlines have recently been blocking contact during boarding by sequential boarding according to seat location. Korean Air has introduced a 'Zone Boarding System' for economy class passengers. Instead of all economy passengers lining up at once, the boarding order is subdivided by zones to reduce close contact between passengers, boarding from the rear rows first to minimize contact inside the cabin.

Some airlines are also securing spacing between seats. For flights with flexible reservation situations, seats are pre-assigned to ensure sufficient distance between passengers. This is difficult to implement on flights with high reservation rates but is one of the efforts to strengthen non-contact between passengers.

In addition to social distancing, national airlines are promoting various quarantine measures. Most airlines have recently prepared non-contact thermometers to restrict boarding of symptomatic passengers, and are providing masks and, in some cases, protective suits to flight attendants to prevent COVID-19 infection. Regular aircraft disinfection has already become standard practice.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.