The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has added Munich Airport to its list of pilot airports intended to set an example of safe travel during the COVID‑19 pandemic. These international airports, also including Frankfurt, Brussels, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, and Amsterdam, are to demonstrate how to implement the recommendations devised by the EASA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

The EASA is aiming to work toward a goal of the hygiene measures that it has recommended being put into practice as consistently as possible across Europe. These include wearing mandatory face coverings, maintaining social distancing wherever possible, and providing hand sanitizer dispensers. Particular attention is also being paid to making the check-in and baggage drop processes as contact-free as possible.

All stages of air travel are to be taken into account, starting at the moment passengers enter the airport building, continuing through the check-in, security and customs processes and extending to the time that passengers spend onboard the aircraft.

Consequently, in addition to the airports, numerous European airlines are involved in the EASA’s large-scale test program. Munich Airport’s participation in the EASA test program fits well with the extensive efforts by Munich Airport to make sure that passengers and employees are safe throughout their time at the airport.

Jost Lammers, CEO of Munich Airport and president of European airport association ACI Europe, commented, “As the only five-star airport in Europe, we have a special responsibility and want to help to raise health standards at European airports in line with aviation so that passengers can get to their destinations safely and healthily even amid the COVID-19 pandemic”.