Personal Protective Equipment

• ~ It has been made mandatory for all the staff and the visitors to go through a temperature check before entering the catering premises. It has also been made mandatory for all the staff to use PPEs (mask and gloves) depending on the nature of their job.
• ~ Face masks, hand sanitizers, white coat, hair gear and disposable hand gloves has been made available at the catering premises, and also at the main entrance gate for easy access and use.
• ~ Additional hand wash facility has been set up at the catering parking space to ensure that all the staff and visitors wash their hands before entering the main building.

Traceability measures

• ~ Use of Druk Trace App and registration of the health declaration form has been made mandatory for visitors at the entrance.
• ~ It has been made mandatory for all the staff of catering to update their health status and travel details regularly on a group chat created within the employees of catering.
• ~ A system has also been put in place where the staff are rostered to work in shifts. This action is to ensure that there is minimal contact amongst staff working in different groups in the event one group is infected.

In-flight Meals

• ~ Meal preparation and handling areas within catering premises are cleaned and disinfected thoroughly before and after handling of meals.
• ~ Incoming meal trolleys are stored for a day at the engineering premises for disinfection. Upon delivery at the catering, the meal trolleys are washed and disinfected thoroughly for use in the next flight
• ~ Disposable containers are used for packing of all the cutleries for use in-flight at all times.

Video Source: Airbus

• ~ Corona Virus Disinfectant “AMS 1453” approved by both the equipment manufacturer - Airbus and ATR are being used on all our aircraft cabin not only at a regular interval, but also based on the situation. The process of usage followed is strictly as per the guidelines set by Bhutan Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA) “Operators Guide to Cleaning and Disinfection of Facilities - COVID -19”.
• ~ To maintain safety and hygiene, all our cabin cleaners are well equipped and trained on the usage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The trainings have specially been conducted by the health officials from the Ministry of Health, Bhutan.
• ~ All our Airbus aircrafts are equipped with HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filters. HEPA filters are inserted in the aircraft’s air circulation systems that has the capability to capture all the Micro-organisms suspended in air, including bacteria and viruses.
• ~ ATR is equipped with Environmental Control System (ECS) which ensures the quality of air in the cabin by supplying continuous fresh air and maintaining high renewal rate of cabin air volume.

At Departure

• ~ All our staff are equipped with Personal Protective Equipment’s (face shield, mask and gloves) relevant to the nature of their job to ensure maximum safety and hygiene.
• ~ We encourage all our passengers to check-in online before arriving at the airport. Drukair offers check-in services via our Drukair App or from our website. This will ensure that the time spent at the airport and contact with employees are kept at a minimum.
• ~ All measures are taken to ensure appropriate physical distancing at the check-in queue and boarding gate.
• ~ Frequency of wiping down arm rests, seats and backs of wheelchairs has been increased to ensure safety and hygiene.
• ~ Aircrafts ground handling equipment, such as passenger steps and ramp bus are disinfected at regular intervals, again to ensure maximum safety and hygiene.
• ~ All passengers and employee touch points are thoroughly sanitized at frequent intervals.
• ~ To avoid physical contact as much as possible, passenger shall be boarded in small groups, segregated based on their seating arrangement.

On Arrival

• ~ Drukair shall ensure speedy baggage claim so that our passengers minimize the time they spend at the airport.
• ~ Drukair shall also ensure assigning as many baggage belts as possible, to allow physical distancing.
• ~ The staff shall be briefed thoroughly in the event they have to deal with medical emergencies.

Precautions undertaken by the cabin crew

• ~ All our cabin crew have been trained to ensure there is minimum risk of contracting or spreading the virus while on board. The cabin crew are also trained on how to deal with a COVID-19 suspect passenger while on board.

Cabin Crew pre-flight measures

• ~ Crew will not be rostered for flight if he/ she is unwell or have any flu like symptoms.
• ~ It has been made mandatory for a cabin crew to wear gloves and facemasks right from the time the pre-flight checks are done and catering is uplifted on board.
• ~ It has also been mandatory for the cabin crew to wear full PPE (Body suit, face shield, gloves, mask and shoe cover) even before the passengers are boarded, and for the entire duty period.
• ~ The cabin crew are made to wash their hands and use sanitizers as frequent as possible.
• ~ It has been made mandatory to spray disinfectant/insecticide in the cabin before boarding of passengers and also after passenger have disembarked.
• ~ A safety kit containing hand sanitizer, face mask and a gloves are distributed to all passengers while boarding.
• ~ While on board, the cabin crew ensures that there is proper social distance maintained between passengers. Based on seat availability, the passengers are relocated ensuring enough distance with exceptions given to families and couples traveling together.

Cabin Crew inflight measures

• ~ Crew will ensure that all passengers on board are wearing masks.
• ~ Crew will ensure that the amount of interaction between crew members, and between crew members and passengers, is minimized;
• ~ Crew will ensure that each passenger observes safe distancing measures when not seated, including during embarkation and disembarkation and when queuing to use a lavatory;
• ~ Crew will ensure that each resting crewmember is seated at least 2 meters away from any passenger.
• ~ Trays will be used while serving passengers, to minimize direct contact.

Revised inflight services

The entire inflight service modality has been restructured keeping in mind the current COVID situation.

• ~ Some onboard services for business class has been discontinued, such as the welcome drinks, pre-meal drinks, hot - meals, menu cards and wet towels to minimize contact with the passengers and to adhere to social distancing norms.
• ~ All linens (tablecloth, headrest, table napkin etc) have been replaced with disposables.
• ~ For economy class passengers, hot drinks and hot meal services have been discontinued to adhere to social distancing norms.