The Civil Guard denounces Iberia for the high occupancy of a flight to Gran Canaria

• Contagion risk: Passenger complaints about the distance between the seats on a flight between Madrid and Gran Canaria

The Civil Guard has denounced Iberia Expres s for failing to comply with the sanitary measures included in the royal decree that regulates the current state of alarm with which it intends to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Sources from the armed institute have informed Efe on Monday that, after learning the information that was being disseminated on social networks about the high occupancy of the flight from Madrid to Gran Canaria, which prevented the passage from keeping the safety distance recommended by the health authorities , several agents appeared at the Gran Canaria airport to carry out various checks. They waited for this plane to land so they could conduct an inspection .

In it, the agents were able to verify that the aircraft had left Madrid with an occupation that exceeded 70% of its capacity , which implies breaching the provisions of article 14 of the aforementioned royal decree, in relation to the sanitary measures that must be comply with the means of transport, where the maximum possible distance between passengers must be guaranteed, the sources explained. As it happens with all those crowded for breaches of the state of alarm, this complaint has been sent to the Government Delegation in the Canary Islands and, also, in this case, to Civil Aviation, as they are the competent bodies in matters of aviation security.

A traveler denounces that they flew "packed"

Efrén Hernández, the traveler on the Iberia Express Madrid-Gran Canaria flight who this Sunday denounced on social media that the plane was almost full, assures that the temperature was not taken to the passage before boarding, nor was he asked to justify the reason for his displacement.

This 24-year-old journalist from Gran Canaria returned to his island to "look for life" after finishing last year the career he studied in Madrid, where he has been confined for the last two months by the coronavirus pandemic. Already in Gran Canaria, Hernández has told Efe the moments of "indignation" and "tension" that he lived in conditions for security that he considers "unacceptable".

According to the testimony of Efrén Hernández, the passengers traveled "all glued" and even "crowded" when it came to storing their belongings in the trunk of the aircraft, for which they did not have the help of the staff. He was also surprised that in Barajas the temperature of the passage of this flight was not taken, especially when he embarked in a region that is still in phase 0 of the de-escalation and was heading to an island that this Monday premiered phase 1.

He was also surprised that the crew did not ask the passengers about the reason for their trip and that there were people who did not even carry with them the questionnaire that originally details the circumstances of the displacement. Two procedures, temperature control and justification for the trip, which they did have to complete, by order of the Civil Guard, upon arrival at the Gran Canaria airport.

Hernández assures that neither he nor the rest of the passengers gave credit when they saw that the plane was filling up with people , that the elderly were not separated from the children, such as the baby with whom a couple was traveling, and that they were not left behind. empty seats to guarantee the safety distance. Given the nervousness on the part of the passage, the commander of the aircraft intervened on the public address system to ensure that "the company was respecting the regulations, which allowed it to operate at one hundred percent of its capacity", and stressed that the measures established to try to stop the COVID-19 "only requires you to guarantee maximum distance" between passengers.

Iberia ensures that it complies with prevention measures

Iberia and its subsidiary low cost Iberia Express have insisted this Monday that they apply all the preventive measures against Covid-19 recommended by regulatory agencies and by the industry, to protect their customers and employees, and point out that the industry does not see it is necessary to leave the central seats empty.

Iberia explained in a statement that both the airline industry, with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) at the helm, and the aeronautical manufacturer Airbus, consider that blocking the central seat is a measure that "is not necessary to give greater safety, because the plane offers specific characteristics that make the risk of contagion low. " According to Iberia, unlike other public transport, in the aircraft cabin the air is renewed every three minutes and the use of HEPA filters eliminates viruses and bacteria with an effectiveness of 99.99%.

While waiting for the European Commission to present its plan to lift the confinement measures for coronavirus for air transport on May 13, the group offers, it explains, flexibility in its rates and seat reservation, and crews on board ensure the greatest possible separation between passengers within the limitations of the aircraft. ,

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