The risk of contamination on board planes is not to be taken lightly, according to a worrying American study carried out on board a Boeing 767.
While millions of people around the world have been forced to cancel or postpone their flights due to the pandemic, there is currently no indication of when they will be able to travel safely again.
the Professor Qingyan Chen of Purdue University (USA), has indeed shown the consequences of a passenger coughing on an airplane and therefore, theThe risks of transmission of Covid-19 in a closed airspace.
The risk of being contaminated in flight
It’s a fact, aircraft cabins have always represented a risk of transmitting all kinds of germs, in particular because of the proximity of passengers, which sometimes lasts up to more than 10 hours, and the lack of ventilation. So in an epidemic period, the risk is all the greater.
Working with Boeing engineers to determine if modifying an aircraft’s ventilation system could mitigate the risk of transmission of Covid-19, the Professor Qingyan Chen and his team found that passengers seated 7 rows away from a Covid patient in a Boeing 767 would have a one in three chance of being infected after a 5 hour flight.
They also found that modifying the ventilation system — for example, circulating air at the cabin floor level and not at the top — would reduce the risk by half or more. Of course, modifying the ventilation system of planes would generate significant work and costs for the airlines, already taken by the throat by the crisis.
The importance of regaining the trust of travelers
Public transport, whether land, sea or air, will have to adapt to the health crisis and put new systems in place to limit the risk of transmission of the virus, which we know will continue to proliferate after deconfinement. .
According to one investigation According to the International Air Transportation Association (IATA), 60% of the last air passengers would plan to travel again within one to two months after the deconfinement of their country, but 40% indicate that they could still wait six months or more.
“Passengers’ confidence will be tested even after the pandemic: they will be hit by personal economic concerns and facing a looming recession in addition to lingering travel health safety concerns. Governments and industry must be quick and coordinated”said Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO of IATA.
.