Coronavirus: Impact on airlines
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Qantas has been accused of substandard cleaning practices on its planes by a workplace safety watchdog, which said it put passengers and staff at risk of exposure to the coronavirus.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Qantas' inadequate cleaning may have heightened risk
Qantas Airways' substandard plane-cleaning practices may have put workers and passengers at risk of catching the coronavirus, said a workplace safety watchdog.
Its method of cleaning planes that could have carried infected passengers is "inadequate", SafeWork NSW said in a notice on Monday to Qantas that was released by a trade union yesterday. "Workers and other persons may be exposed to a risk of injury or illness," the state body said in its report.
An inspector "observed workers wiping multiple tray tables with the same wet cloth with no disinfectant", the notice said. Cleaners were "required to handle wet and used tissues, used face masks, soiled nappies and the workers advised they occasionally have to clean vomit and blood off surfaces".
A Qantas spokesman said it is considering appealing against the notice. "Qantas is not known for being complacent when it comes to safety or the cleanliness of aircraft," it said.
BLOOMBERG
Vietnam Airlines passengers quarantined on exposure fears
Twelve crew members and 51 out of 73 passengers on a Vietnam Airlines flight from Nagoya in Japan to Ho Chi Minh City were on Wednesday placed in quarantine on fears the carrier's employees had been exposed earlier to a Japanese traveller with the coronavirus.
The passenger tested positive after landing at Chubu Centrair International Airport near Nagoya on Wednesday with a fever, according to Vietnam's government website.
Fifty-one passengers on Flight VN341, which landed in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday, were placed in quarantine while 22 others, all Japanese, were allowed to make connecting flights. Two security staff and six employees at a Tan Son Nhat International Airport business lounge were also put in isolation after having close contact with the sick Japanese passenger.
The passenger had boarded a Vietnam Airlines flight on Tuesday from Cambodia's Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City before going on to Japan.
BLOOMBERG
British airline Flybe collapses as coronavirus deals final blow British regional airline
Flybe collapsed yesterday after a plunge in travel demand, making the long-struggling carrier one of the first big corporate casualties of the coronavirus outbreak.
The failure of an airline that connects all corners of the United Kingdom with major European destinations not only puts around 2,400 jobs at risk but could also see some airports struggle and regional economies taking a hit.
"All flights have been grounded and the UK business has ceased trading with immediate effect," Flybe said after the government walked away from a rescue package agreed in January.
Airlines around the world have been cancelling flights and warning of a hit to profitability after the coronavirus first emerged in China, hitting flights across Asia, before it spread to Europe and beyond.
REUTERS
