Turkish Airlines Introduces Hygiene Experts on Flights

Turkish Airlines has announced the introduction of Hygiene Experts to ensure passenger safety in flight.

The airline that would normally feature a chef for business class passengers on long-haul flights now has the purview of Hygiene Expert cabin crews who work as health inspectors, focusing on the enforcement of on-board hygiene and social distancing measures.

Hygiene Experts monitor the usage of masks among passengers, ensure that masks are not all removed at once for food and beverage service and disinfect and prevent queues for lavatories.

The Turkish flag carrier has begun to resume its local flights after a two-month break due to the pandemic and is just days away from resuming international flights. Alongside the onboard Hygiene Experts, all passengers are given Hygiene Kits which contain a mask, disinfectant and antiseptic tissue.

Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, M. Ilker Ayci, said in a press release: “At Turkish Airlines, we are providing significant services to our passengers with our enhanced guidelines for safe travel that are prepared in accordance with instructions of scientists.”

“Some of the significant new implementations in accordance with these guidelines are our Hygiene Expert cabin crews and Hygiene Kits distributed by them. Responsible solely for all on-board hygiene and enforcement of social distancing measures between our passengers, we believe that our Hygiene Experts will help our passengers to feel more comfortable and relaxed about their travels,” the Chairman continued.

The airline has also released ‘Guidelines for safe travel’, which includes the recommendation to wear a face mask from the moment the customer leaves their house. Passengers will only be allowed to take personal belongings, such as laptop bags, purses and handbags onboard. All other items need to be checked in.

Turkish Airlines is insisting all customers keep a 1.5 meter, roughly 5 foot, distance between other people and is encouraging the use of self check-in kiosks and automated bag drop. Boarding starts with the last row and disembarkation will be completed ten passengers at a time with two-minute intervals between groups.

The airline is also offering passengers to use a companion mobile application to remotely control their in-flight entertainment system on airplanes with WiFi so they do not have to touch the screen if they do not wish to.

Turkish Airlines is usually hailed for flying to the most countries of any airline, with service to over 120 countries. However, recently it has been operating limited domestic flights from its hub in Istanbul to Ankara, Antalya, Izmir and Trabzon using a mixture of Airbus A330s and Airbus A321s, alongside a number of cargo and repatriation operations to destinations such as New York, Toronto and Bangkok. On top of its dedicated cargo fleet, the airline has also followed suit of a number of other airlines and used a number of its passenger aircraft to operate cargo flights.

According to TRT World, the airline will be resuming international flights on June 18, offering service to eight German destinations, three Swiss destinations and two Austrian cities, as well as Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Stockholm. According to the same source, these cities will be served from Antalya, Ankara, Adana and Dalaman, among others.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Connor Sadler

Connor has been in love with flying since the first time he boarded a plane when he was 5 years old. He loves all things aviation, and he hopes to make that his full time career in the future.

Latest posts by Connor Sadler (see all)

• Finnair Bolsters Schedule as Travel Demand Grows - September 15, 2021
• Air Canada Rouge Returns to the Skies - September 8, 2021
• Jet2 Orders First Airbus Aircraft with A321neos - September 1, 2021