Packed flight Belfast to Heathrow

[Allnamesaregone]

Coronavirus: Robin Swann 'shocked' at images of packed flight www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-52528452

The excuse was that specific guidelines hadn’t been issued for aircraft social distancing. Good grief! What happened to common sense. It’s not surprising we have the highest death rate in Europe.
I’d also like to know the reasons for each and every person making that trip.

Ridiculous we are al suffering and complying with lockdown

Mentioned on breakfast this morning and Matt Hancock was 'asked' about it by Dan. Hancock's reply was stumbling to say the least!

I don't get this at all. We were commenting the other day on the reduced planes we see in the sky but there's still a few and wondered where they were going? Am I missing something, I thought we weren't allowed to travel so how are people allowed and what are they doing...?

I read a few WhizAir(?) flights landed at Luton carrying seasonal fruit pickers. Not making the thread about that can we please learn our lesson and have at temperature checks at airports etc. It's a mockery of lockdown. Airports are the easiest place to enforce it as well with all the other security measures!

Absolutely. How were these all essential journeys.

Crazy.

Unless you leave literally 90% of seats empty you aren't going to achieve much.

I don't think it matters anyway. Pearl clutching about people not distancing doesn't do anything . The measures work if most people comply. Doesn't need to be 100%. If an aircraft on one day is full then it's not the end of the world at all. People under 40 have virtually no risk from covid-19 anyway.

Just is what it is. Doctors , nurses etc, are exposed to high viral loads. Some other people will be. Sometimes a flight will be full. No big deal.

Just nonsense at this point. A charade. Don't care.

@KeepWashingThoseHands - freight planes are still flying. They may be what you are seeing.

I wouldn’t worry unduly about plane loads of asparagus pickers from Romania and Bulgaria. Both countries got a grip early on and have low rates of CV. They’re much more likely to catch it in the UK.

I was wondering that too? Why the need to fly?

Loving the quote: "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"

I don't know if they're trying to pretend they didn't know what the load would be on their own aircraft, but at least that's the end of pretence that those on flights are mainly being repatriated

It's just nuts  We are told not to go outside more than once a day, we can't see our loved ones, but apparently an easy way to get around that is to just book a flight and then you can all sit together merrily!

They haven't even tried; they at least could have left all the middle seats empty to look like they at least cared.

Unexpected demand my arse. Are they trying to claim they don't control how many tickets they sell for their own flights?

Puzzled, on previous flights, most who had booked didn't turn up. This time, most did.They won't have known until people checked in. Not excusing this, I am horrified by it. But that is where they are coming from with their lame excuse.....

Airline needs to raise prices 3-4x to make it financially viable to fly at 25-30% capacity. I hope they do this soon.

They said in the article that the numbers travelling will rise because of construction workers. Personally I think if they're coming over to England to work they should stay here during lockdown and not travel back every weekend. If they want to be home, then work on projects in NI instead. And vice versa.

Why leave middle seats empty? It's a pointless idiotic charade worthy of a toddler. What about across the aisle? We already know that one infected person can potentially affect 5 rows (15 seats), probably more across the aisle and so on. Dozens of people.

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/09/british-couple-contract-virus-on-flight-from-heathrow-to-vietnam

The UK has hundreds of thousands of cases. If someone catches it on a flight it makes no difference. It's just noise.not the bubonic plague.

Yes good point on freight. I'm not worried about the arrival of fruit pickers and agree those countries are way less impacted and the risk is likely coming here.

Just meant as a principle it's odd we don't seem to have measures in place at key borders and airports to temp check like they have routinely done in Asian countries. Or do we?

One plane not a big deal but when it's systematically not addressed the scale/impact is much bigger.

@cologne4711

There is no mention of construction workers anywhere in the article.

Do you actually think that everyone travelling that route is a construction worker? Get a grip of yourself.

The air recirculates. What difference will leaving a middle seat empty make?

temperature checks are another charade.

on previous flights, most who had booked didn't turn up. This time, most did

I know, but as you say it makes no difference to the lameness of their excuse - after all they sold those tickets and couldn't have known previous passengers wouldn't turn up, and more than they knew they would this time

Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favour of opening up flights again in a controlled way, but this is just blatant disregard

I get temp checks are gonna be hit and miss for a variety of reasons and leaving the middle seat empty when the aisle is almost as close is idiotic, but perhaps the reason the UK has hundreds of thousands of cases is cos we also allow stuff like this to happen.

I don't get this at all. We were commenting the other day on the reduced planes we see in the sky but there's still a few and wondered where they were going?

As has been said...lots of freight being shifted by air, both on board specialist freight aircraft and on also passenger aircraft being used in as make shift freighters...there are also some passenger carrying flights, which bring us to:

Am I missing something, I thought we weren't allowed to travel

Essential workers and those with essential reasons to travel have been allowed to fly during the lockdown. However finding a flight that actually takes you from where you are to where you need to be has been a bit tricky...

All that said have no idea what was going on with the flight being reported in the media, but would say I've not seen any thing from the likes of HMG saying airlines must enforce social distancing onboard.

There are hardly any flights these days so it's surely not a surprise that the ones that are still flying might be busy.

Loads of people here fly to England for work reasons regularly. I know half a dozen families off the top of my head where the main earner works in England permanently and just comes home at weekends. If they're still working, they'll still be travelling.

I’m not sure 2m distancing on a plane will make much difference once they whack the air con on.

I’m hardly ever ill thank goodness, however, first flight in 20 years and came down with the worst virus and needed to take a week off work which is unheard off for me. I’m convinced it was from air con on plane.