The government recently introduced additional measures to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic (Prime Ministerial Decree dated 26 April 2020).(1) A number of specific rules were introduced for the transport of airline passengers which must be complied with by airlines and airports to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Italy. The new rules will be in force until 17 May 2020, but they remain subject to extension or amendments in light of the continuously evolving scenario.

Operational measures

The decree introduced the following operational measures:

  • Passengers must maintain a social distance of at least on metre on board aircraft, in airport terminals and inside airport facilities (eg, shuttles).
  • Passengers must wear their own protective mask at all times while on board aircraft.
  • Aircraft must undergo sanitation and sanitisation treatments at least once a day, depending on the amount of air traffic, particularly those surfaces that are most frequently touched by passengers.
  • All airport gates must be equipped with disinfectant gel dispensers.
  • Air conditioning systems must be treated to prevent the bacterial and viral contamination.
  • All passengers on inbound and outbound flights will be subject to temperature screening before boarding and after landing. In this respect, the specific procedures to perform such screening will be jointly assessed by airport managers and airlines operating at major airport hubs.

Administrative measures

The decree also introduced the following administrative measures:

  • Any passengers on inbound flights that depart from a foreign country must fill in a form setting out their reason for travel, their residence or domicile in Italy and their contact details. Subsequently, passengers must stay in quarantine at their place of residence or domicile for 14 days, during which time regular surveillance inspections will be carried out by the public health authorities.
  • Airlines will be required to:
    • collect and check said documentation or declaration before boarding;
    • perform temperature screening before boarding;
    • deny boarding to passengers with a high temperature or where the required documentation or declaration is missing or incomplete; and
    • provide protective masks to those passengers who do not have their own.

Further, Law 27/2020 (which sets out measures to strengthen the national health service and provide financial support to the Italian economy in connection with the COVID-19 emergency) has introduced a new regulation for the refund of flight tickets.

In summary, air carriers will be allowed to refund passenger by either returning the ticket price or offering a voucher for the same value valid for one year. These two alternatives will apply to refund requests submitted by passengers that could not take a flight due to the travel restrictions caused by the pandemic, as well as where an airline exercised the right to withdraw from the contract of carriage by giving prior notice to customers (specifically where flight services could not be performed because of measures adopted by national authorities, international authorities or foreign countries due to the COVID-19 emergency). In the latter case, air carriers will refund passengers within 30 days from receipt of the withdrawal notice by refunding the ticket price or offering a voucher for the same value valid for one year. Pursuant to the new provisions, by offering vouchers, airlines will fulfil any mandatory refund obligations and no acceptance will be required by passengers.

Notably, for all tickets purchased for flights scheduled to have taken place from 11 March 2020 to 30 September 2020 (including services to be provided abroad and services to be provided in favour of foreign contracting parties), where the flight services are not performed due to the COVID-19 emergency, the consideration already paid by passengers can be refunded by a voucher for the same value valid for one year.

Endnotes

(1) For an overview of the previous measures, please see "Government measures to mitigate effects of COVID-19".