French Airlines Exempt from Social Distancing Rules, Transport Secretary Announces

France will not require airlines to comply with social distancing on board aircraft. On the other hand, for French metro and train operators, the measure remains valid. The announcement of this special exemption for airlines was made this Sunday by the Secretary of State for Transport, Jean-Baptiste Dejabbari, on RTL.

The exemption from complying with social distancing comes as a relief to airlines, as several of them had complained about the economic consequences of such an obligation on their revenues. Ryanair and Air France, airlines serving Morocco, have denounced the measure. Ryanair has made the resumption of its flights conditional on the abandonment of the measure requiring it to sell only one seat out of two. For its part, Air France said that such a measure would force it to increase the price of airline tickets. A decision welcomed by airlines that were suffering the ravages of the covid-19 pandemic.