A review is to be carried out into an Aer Lingus flight from Belfast to London that appeared to show no evidence of social distancing measures being enforced.
The airline says there was an “unexpectedly high load” on the flight yesterday and any necessary changes will be implemented as a “matter of urgency”.
Pictures from inside the cabin on Monday morning showed row after row filled with passengers sitting in regular seats side by side with no apparent distancing restrictions.
Passenger Sean Mallon, who was travelling to England for work, told BBC Radio Ulster that neither the cabin crew or airline staff offered any guidance on social distancing and passengers were allowed to sit in their seats in the same way they would have before the pandemic. He told the radio station ‘I would say there was about 95% of the seats taken on the flight”.
Mr Mallon also said that everyone boarded in the same way as normal with no new rules in place and claimed there was no hand sanitiser for anyone, bar passengers being told to wash their hands after landing.
Aer Lingus said by way of a statement: ‘In light of the unexpectedly high loads on the Belfast-London Heathrow service this morning and the level of demand for the route, Aer Lingus is reviewing its processes and procedures applicable to the operation of this service.
‘The safety and security of Aer Lingus’s customers and crew is our top priority and any process changes that are identified as being required will be implemented as a matter of urgency.’
