Japan Airlines earns awards for unparalleled health and safety measures

by Elton Gagni / April 8, 2021

As travel continues to be disrupted around the world because of the ongoing pandemic, airlines have pivoted to include various benefits and add-ons that will help secure the health and safety of their passengers.

Japan Airlines (JAL) is among those carriers and it has been recently awarded the highest levels of COVID-19 safety certifications from two leading international airline advisory organizations, in recognition for its enhanced JAL FlySafe measures at the airport and on board.

JAL is the first airline in Asia and one (as of March 2021) of only two in the world to simultaneously achieve the highest level 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating from SKYTRAX, and the highest Diamond Certification from APEX Health Safety powered by Simpliflying.

International air transport rating organisation SKYTRAX launched the COVID-19 Safety Ratings in 2020 to cover airlines and airports across the world, providing independent, expert evaluation and certification of airline and airport COVID-19 hygiene and safety measures.

JAL’s 5-Star key measures include: a well-measured portfolio of safety practices to reduce the risks related to the spread of COVID-19 such as enhanced physical distancing, and hand hygiene, and increased disinfection and cleaning protocols in the airport and onboard flights; and, touchless technologies for domestic check-in and bag-drop and robot customer service assistants to help customers with flight information.

“Japan Airlines is a consistent industry leader in matters of cleanliness and hygiene, and we are delighted to see that the airline has reinforced these already robust protocols to lower the risks of coronavirus transmission. The airline has applied a great deal of Japanese logic and efficiency in the setup of high-movement areas such as check-in, boarding, and arrival, and has introduced practical and genuinely useful technologies to assist customers on their journey. The combination of factors here is vital to reinforce confidence in air travel,” said Edward Plaisted of SKYTRAX.

Meantime, the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) and SimpliFlying conducts inaugural audits in the respective organizations to evaluate and validate the airline’s COVID-19 safety measures through an extensive 58-point checklist.

SimpliFlying Chief Executive Officer Shashank Nigam said “Japan Airlines has raised the bar for health safety in the industry by initiatives, such as enhanced cleaning of key touchpoints especially cabin lavatories. Taking such hospital-grade measures in ensuring health safety will help bolster trust among travellers.”

Japan Airlines President, Yuji Akasaka explained that since the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the JAL Group has taken proactive steps to implement and strengthen key measures to provide their customers a safe and secure travel experience. “Through the efforts of our dedicated staff at the JAL Group, it is certainly an honor to receive this accreditation. The JAL Group will continue to strengthen our COVID-19 measures and look forward to the day when people around the world can travel worry-free.”

JAL has been highly evaluated for its well-measured portfolio of safety practices to reduce the risks related to the spread of COVID-19, for enhancing physical distancing and hand hygiene, as well as increasing disinfection and cleaning protocols in the airport and onboard flights. JAL has also been recognized for their efforts put into using touchless technologies such as its domestic check-in and bag-drop, and robot customer service assistants to help customers with flight information at select airports in Japan.

Over the past year, JAL introduced key safety initiatives under the “JAL FlySafe Program” and became one of the first airlines to adopt and implement the recommended guidelines as described in the International Civil Aviation Organization’s CART (Council Aviation Recovery Task Force) Take-off Guidance. The Japanese carrier also offers complimentary JAL COVID-19 Cover, which provides support in case of COVID-19 infection during travel, for all international passengers to provide them with a greater peace of mind.

The JAL Group will continue to adopt and implement key measures, as the airline fully understands the need to restore public confidence in air travel.

Read also:

• Japan Airlines now offers COVID-19 coverage for international passengers
• The flight to recovery
• Japan opens up for PH travels