Passengers travelling through Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands will now be asked to cover their faces and wear gloves.

The airports are the first in the UK to ask their passengers to wear face coverings.

Passengers are being encouraged to bring their own gloves and face coverings or face masks to the airport.

However, in the early stages of the pilot, for those arriving without, the airport will provide gloves and masks that can be worn throughout passengers’ time in the airport.

Staff will also be on hand to guide passengers and help them navigate through the usual security processes while wearing protective equipment.

The move by airport owner MAG is designed to ensure that the small number of passengers currently making essential journeys through its airports feel safer and more confident about flying, as well as providing a further level of protection to colleagues working at the airport.

All staff colleagues serving passengers will wear gloves and face masks from today, and all staff working for airport partners will be encouraged to.

Charlie Cornish, chief executive, MAG, said: “It’s clear that social distancing will not work on any form of public transport.

“But we are confident that when the time is right, people will be able to travel safely.

“MAG has been working with the rest of the airport industry on a new safety framework for travel.

“We now need to work urgently with government to agree how we operate in the future.

“This has to be a top priority so that people can be confident about flying, and to get tourism and travel going again.”

Heathrow has begun trials with heat sensitive cameras as UK airports adjust to the post-Covid-19 reality.