Airlines improve services for seniors

The country's civil aviation regulator has asked the industry to improve the travel experiences of senior passengers, including opening counters to provide offline services and offering alternative ways to check health codes.

Civil Aviation Administration of China has prioritized helping senior passengers using smart technologies when they travel by air, Liang Nan, director of the administration's transport department, told a news conference on Wednesday.

All domestic airports have set up counters to offer services such as consultation and printing boarding passes, Liang said.

Senior passengers are also able to use cash to buy tickets and other items at the airports, she said.

Health code inspection has become a requirement to travel, which troubles some senior passengers unfamiliar with smartphones.

To tackle this challenge, most airports and airline companies arrange for staff members to help senior passengers. In Beijing Daxing International Airport and Shenzhen Baoan International Airport, passengers who have no access to smartphones can enter the terminals via a special gate with facilities to check their health status. They can also submit a hard-copy health report to board the plane.

Airports such as Beijing Capital and Shanghai Hongqiao have set up special counters, safety check zones and waiting zones for senior passengers and provide wheelchairs when needed.

Companies such as Air China and China Eastern Airlines give seniors priority to check luggage, and board and leave the airplane, greatly improving their travel experiences.

A passenger surnamed Han in her 60s accidentally locked her smartphone at Beijing Daxing International Airport earlier this year.

"I was worried if I failed to present my health code that I wouldn't be allowed to board the plane," she said, adding that staff at the airport helped her to sort things out.

"I still did not know what they did on my phone, but it started to work. My daughter worried about me traveling alone. Now she can stop worrying," she said.

According to the administration, efforts will be made to improve barrier-free faculties and standardize the system to offer a better travel experience for seniors.

China had more than 264 million people aged 60 or older as of last year, accounting for 18.7 percent of the population.

A guideline to boost the sense of fulfillment, happiness and safety among the elderly was released by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council last month.