Turkey: New airport measures to stem virus resurgence

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) – As businesses reopen in Turkey amid improving coronavirus numbers, including air travel, airports will use new measures to protect public health, said the nation’s top airport official on Monday.

Physical conditions in airports will be reorganized according to social distancing rules, said Huseyin Keskin, head of the State Airports Authority Directorate (DHMI) on Twitter.

Lines for check-in and seating areas will be arranged in a way to facilitate distancing, he noted.

"To reduce the density and contact, necessary arrangements will be made in the luggage areas, and sufficient distance will be provided between the luggage tapes," he added.

Keskin said the scope of the measures will be expanded in all processes, from entering airports to departure.

As part of the “new normal” in air travel, Turkey has been working on all measures to ensure COVID-19-free airports, he said.

The total number of active coronavirus cases in Turkey has dropped to 42,180, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Sunday, with total recoveries moving towards 100,000.