With the resumption of several flights, Abu Dhabi International Airport has adopted a number of measures across all facilities, helping enhance the safety of employees and passengers and preventing a second wave of coronavirus. In a press statement, General Manager Abu Dhabi International Airport, Mohammed Hussain Ahmed said that in addition to wearing face masks and gloves, and implementing social distancing rules, the airport has also introduced self-sanitising escalators, smart sanitising gates and contactless control systems in elevators. The airport is also using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other modern technologies to help with the sanitisation processes, he said.
Everyone passing through the smart sanitising gates, placed at the airport’s entrance and exits, will have their temperature checked. They will then be sanitised, from head to toe, with an internationally-accredited smoke-based sanitiser, which is said to kill 99.9 percent of viruses, including COVID-19.
Travellers will then be able to proceed via 53 elevators comprising contactless control systems and will receive face masks and gloves via smart devices. Following this, they will be screened via thermal monitoring cameras, which will check whether they are wearing the face masks and gloves provided by the airport.
Passengers going towards the arrival section will be able to complete the procedure online or by using Etihad Airway’s smart application. They will use a self-service platform where facial recognition technology will help check their temperature as well as breathing and heart rates.
All passengers arriving in Abu Dhabi are required to go through a comprehensive assessment zone so that the authorities can track those who have been in contact with confirmed cases of coronavirus. Following this, all passengers will need to undergo a PCR test, which takes about five to ten minutes.
Etihad Airways has introduced safety measures on-board, which has increased flight times by five to eight minutes, but is helping keep passengers and crew members safe. Only a selected number of passengers are allowed to board the flight at one time.