Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia sets passenger temperature threshold for airline travel

Travellers will not be allowed into planes with a temperature measuring 38 Celsius or above

Passengers from Saudi Arabia at the LAX Tom Bradley International Airport in Los Angeles, California. EPA

Passengers with a temperature exceeding 38 Celsius will be banned from boarding Saudi domestic flights to guard against the coronavirus as airline travel within the kingdom was due to resume on Sunday.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation said last week that parts of the domestic flight network would be reactivated after a suspension in March in line with government measures to restore what officials described as “normal” economic activity.

Health Ministry data showed on Sunday that 23 more people died in the kingdom from the coronavirus and 1,877 more people were infected, bringing the death toll to 503 and total cases to 85,261.

In the holy city of Makkah, one of the hardest hit areas in the kingdom with coronavirus cases, official media said the local economy is showing signs of re-activation as bans on movements were eased, while increasing sanitisation measures in shops and markets.

The aviation authority said all the domestic air tickets must be purchased electronically and that ticket holders would be required to have their temperature checked as soon as they arrive at the airport.

All passengers must also wear masks and “no one will be let in the airport with a temperature above 38 degrees,” it said.

The official news agency said the first domestic flight under the new coronavirus guidelines landed on Sunday in the north west city of Tabuk, coming from Riyadh.

All the kingdom’s airports will be undergoing disinfection every three hours and planes will be disinfected after passengers disembark. All flight crews and workers at Saudi airports will be undergoing regular testing for the coronavirus.

A minimum of a three-hour break between flights will “allow for the disinfection of equipment and passenger hauls,” the authority said.

Saudia, the national airline, said last month that it would resume flights to Europe on April 23, as coronavirus infections cases in the Kingdom started to spike. But the flights to the continent remained grounded.