Temperature checks for passengers to start at Edinburgh Airport
Edinburgh Airport is to start testing the temperature of passengers in departures as the latest measure to curb the spread of Covid-19.
It expects to begin them later this month or early in June and said the unilateral move was to help reassure travellers.
However, officials said the testing of arriving passengers was a matter for the UK government’s UK Border Force.
The move was confirmed hours after Heathrow announced a trial temperature screening programme.
Glasgow and Aberdeen airports are awaiting advice from the Scottish Government.
Edinburgh Airport said it had still to confirm whether all departing passengers would be tested, where the checks would take place and what would happen to passengers detected with a raised temperature.
An airport spokesman said: “The biggest issue we face is the need for a common approach that will allow airports to clearly understand and follow the regulations required of them.
“It’s imperative government sets out its demands so we can prepare and deliver for the recovery.
“We know aviation and tourism has a significant role to play in Scotland’s economy and we have been planning how to meet the challenges this virus poses our industry.
“Key to that will be providing reassurance and confidence to passengers and to do that we will be introducing a range of new measures, including trialling temperature screening technology for departing passengers.”
A spokesperson for AGS Airports, which runs Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton, said: “It’s important there is a coordinated and consistent response when it comes to the measures airports will have to put in place.
“We are working with both the UK and Scottish governments and their respective health officials, to seek clarity.”
Heathrow chief executive John Holland-kaye said it would trial technologies which could form the basis of a common international standard for health screening at airports to encourage passengers to return to flying.
The scheme is aimed at reducing the risk of passengers contracting or transmitting Covid-19 while travelling.
The trial will be launched in the next two weeks using cameras capable of monitoring people’s temperatures.
Cameras will initially be used in the immigration halls, but could be deployed in areas for departures, connections and airport staff searches.
Temperature screening has been in use by airports in some countries for several weeks.