Portugal to remove limitation on aircraft capacity from June

The Portuguese government has authorized flights to be fully booked from June 1, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing confirmed on Thursday.

The only obligation required on board the planes will be the use of a protective mask to avoid contagion of COVID-19, according to an official statement by the ministry.

"Recommended proposals for sanitary measures to combat the SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) pandemic in the air transport sector were studied and the limitation of aircraft capacity is not part of these recommendations," said the statement.

The Portuguese government says it is under permanent evaluation of the use of public transport to contain the pandemic.

At this moment, however, it is important to "align national rules with European rules with regard to civil aviation transport to regain the confidence of passengers", justified the ministry.

This week, Portugal began its second phase of deconfinement, with measures to reopen restaurants, cafeteria and museums.

The measures coincide with the tourist season in the country, a fundamental activity for the local economy.

Portugal has registered 1,277 deaths associated with COVID-19 in 29,912 confirmed cases of infection, with 14 more deaths and 252 more cases of infection compared to the previous day, according to the latest daily bulletin from the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) on the pandemic.