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1 May 2020updated 06 Oct 2020 9:45am

Social distancing at airports “impossible“, Heathrow chief executive says

By Samuel Horti

Social distancing within airports is “impossible”, Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye has said, calling for a “better solution” to get people flying after lockdown ends.

“Social distancing does not work in any form of public transport, let alone aviation,” he told PA. “The constraint is not about how many people you can fit on a plane, it will be how many people you can get through an airport safely.

“If you’ve ever been on holiday from Gatwick, you cannot imagine going through there and socially distancing in the summer. It’s just physically impossible to socially distance with any volume of passengers in an airport. The same applies with trains and Tube stations.

“So we need a better solution, which means that in a few months’ time, when the disease is under control and with a low risk of infection, we can make it as low risk as possible for people to fly.”

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