Flight infection risk low

THE International Air Transport Association (IATA) has welcomed a report from the United States Transportation Command (Transcom), which suggests the risk of COVID transmission during commercial flights is minimal.

The testing, which was conducted in Aug, found the overall exposure risk from aerosolised pathogens, like coronavirus, to be “very low”.

More than 300 aerosol releases simulating a passenger infected with coronavirus were performed over eight days using United Airlines Boeing 767-300 and 777-200 aircraft, with the testing showing the aerosol was “rapidly diluted by the high air exchange rates” of a typical cabin.

Aerosol particles remained detectable for a period of less than six minutes on average, with both aircraft models tested removing particulate matter 15 times faster than a typical home ventilation system, and five to six times faster than the recommended design specifications for patient isolation rooms in a hospital.

Testing was done both with and without a mask for the simulated infected passengers.

“Last week, IATA reported that since the start of 2020 there have been 44 cases of COVID-19 reported in which transmission is thought to have been associated with a flight journey, out of 1.2 billion passenger journeys in 2020,” IATA Director General & Chief Executive Officer Alexandre de Juniac enthused.

“The US Transcom research provides further evidence that the risk of infection on board an aircraft appears to be very low, and certainly lower than many other indoor environments.”

The testing was conducted by America’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.