This Saturday, May 23, the Minister of Health distinguished the decision of the European regulator, which authorizes the full capacity of the planes, according to the national norms defended for cultural spaces, to justify the discrepancies in the rules.
“The origin of the norms are different. The recommendations for the planes are not national, but the European agency and what they recommend is the maintenance of caution, and the airlines are still considering how they will manage to comply with these recommendations», said Marta Temido at the press conference where the current status of Covid-19 in Portugal.
The Government announced on Thursday that the planes will no longer have reduced passenger capacity, by two-thirds, as of June 1, and that the use of "community masks is mandatory".
For the minister, «a different thing are the rules that are being articulated with the Ministry of Culture for cinemas, shows and theatre, and that belong to the national entities».
On this subject, the Director-General of Health added that the European regulator continues to recommend that "there are measures of detachment between people, whether at airports or inside aircraft, but leaves the issue of aircraft capacity to the carriers' discretion." recalling the mandatory use of masks.
Graça Freitas had already said that the protocols that allow airplanes to stop having reduced passenger capacity are not infallible, but that the risk was considered.
«It is one thing to have guidelines from the international regulator and some flexibility for companies to adopt measures based on a risk assessment, another thing is the national application measures, also taken based on the risk assessment. There are strict protocols on boarding and inside the planes. They are different environments. These are situations that have to be seen on a case-by-case basis and we are certain that the regulator weighed the specific circumstances of a flight," he reiterated.
The Government determined the reopening of cinemas, theaters, auditoriums and concert halls (with reserved seats, reduced capacity and physical distance) from June 1st, still awaiting the definition of the final rules and guidelines, after hearing entities from the sector and the General Directorate of Health.
What is certain is that the culture and arts sector was in protest, last Thursday, May 21st, all over the country, including Faro.
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