Airline passengers not to take any hand luggage on flights

LONDON: Airline passengers should not take any hand luggage on flights as part of measures to slow the spread of Covid-19, government guidance says today.

The advice from the Department for Transport (DfT) insists travellers should check in all baggage before boarding, while they are also encouraged to wear masks in airports and stay seated as much as possible while in the air. Eliminating the scramble to claim rucksacks, handbags and small suitcases from overhead lockers will ‘minimise the risk of transmission’, bosses say.

Airline passengers should not take any hand luggage on flights as part of measures to slow the spread of Covid-19, government guidance says today. The advice from the Department for Transport (DfT) insists travellers should check in all baggage before boarding, while they are also encouraged to wear masks in airports and stay seated as much as possible while in the air.

Eliminating the scramble to claim rucksacks, handbags and small suitcases from overhead lockers will ‘minimise the risk of transmission’, bosses say.Checking in a 15kg bag for an easyJet flight from Gatwick to Glasgow on Monday costs an additional £23.99.

British Airways is charging £25 for putting a 23kg bag in the hold for passengers with the cheapest fare on a flight from Heathrow to the same destination on the same date.

The DfT guidance states: ‘You are strongly encouraged to check in baggage to the aircraft hold and minimise any hand baggage.’This will speed up boarding and disembarking, and minimise the risk of transmission.’A separate document for airlines calls on them to use ‘communication and incentive policies’ to minimise hand luggage.

Other advice for passengers includes wearing face coverings in airports and remaining seated as much as possible during flights.Airlines are being encouraged to extensively clean aircraft, increase the availability of handwashing and hand sanitiser, and reduce face-to-face interactions between staff and passengers.