African passengers are advised to wear face shields by Qatar Airways.
Passengers on Qatar Airways flights from South Africa, Zambia, and Mozambique are required to wear supplementary personal protective equipment (PPE), which includes a face shield on top of their masks.
The strange policy was brought to light this week, and it has enraged many frequent flyers. All three nations are on Qatar’s green list, thus this request for additional security measures based on the location from where passengers are flying makes little sense.
Qatar only reopened its borders to South Africa last month – and according to the new guidance, African travellers will be asked to keep face shields on during boarding, the flight itself, and the disembarking process.
Officials for the airline argue that the measure is in place for ‘passenger comfort and protection’.
“Passengers travelling from South Africa, Zambia and Mozambique are required to wear face shields while boarding, throughout the flight and when disembarking”.
“We are continuously working to ensure that our passengers are provided the safety and hygiene measures of the highest standard. The health and safety measures taken on board are for you comfort and protection.”
Qatar Airways
Passengers travelling from South Africa, Zambia & Mozambique are required to wear face shields while boarding, throughout the flight and when disembarking. For more information, please visit https://t.co/QyHIFTsblv
— Qatar Airways (@qatarairways) February 17, 2022
However, despite trying to put a positive spin on things, the general public has seen right through these flimsy requirements. Qatar Airways is now suffering something of a backlash online, and their area-specific face shield demand hasn’t gone down as well as they were expecting.
A number of irate social media users have called the policy ‘racist’, while others have slammed the airline for making up ‘insane and discriminatory rules’. Either way, it’s a terrible look for the business.
What’s not cool is asking South Africans to wear a visor on top of their masks in order to fly on your airline. I was about to book but not anymore racists.
— Yusuf Mahamed (@yusuf_vaid) February 17, 2022
@qatarairways Your insane new requirement of face shields for passengers travelling from #SouthAfrica, is it only for Africans? Are Brits exempt? How about passengers travelling #QSuite??? Why on earth have you brought in this new rule? It’s totally unnecessary.
— Mrs Bain (@MissAmyP123) February 17, 2022
@qatarairways you really are the most racist and discriminatory airline…why are your policies different for Africa??? #racist #discrimination
— Rowan (@jimmyjinga) February 17, 2022