Flying safest to avoid virus, says Airbus

Flying safest to avoid virus, says Airbus

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: 13.05.2020

When flights resume and you take to the skies again, do not panic when someone on the rows ahead or behind you sneezes or coughs.

There is minimal risk of the dreaded coronavirus — assuming the person sneezing or coughing is an undiagnosed infected and is wearing a mask — finding its way to you by transmission through air inside the cabin, according to European aerospace major Airbus. The aircraft manufacturer says its cabin airflow and filtration systems virtually rule out airborne transmission of contaminants like coronavirus on flights. To be sure while airborne transmission has been ruled out, Airbus reiterates everyone onboard must follow heightened norms of hygiene like disinfecting hands and wearing masks, decontamination of surfaces and controlled boarding to ensure that the virus does not spread through surfaces of common touchpoints.

“The air inside an aircraft is extremely clean due to filtration by hepa filters and is recycled every two to three minutes. Moreover, the airflow happens only from top to bottom and air is sucked out at the bottom of the floor which does not happen on any mode of surface transport. These three factors make air inside the cabin clean and safe,” said Anand Stanley, Airbus (India and South Asia) president and MD, to TOI.

Full report on www.toi.in