Air travel during corona: Why it still remains our safest option in this chaos

Even as record-breaking fresh cases of novel coronavirus are being reported every day, India is slowly gearing up for the first phase of its unlock plan. People are stepping out of their houses to embrace the new normalcy with face-covers and social distancing. As domestic flights in India also resumed functioning last week, the battle to avoid the coronavirus infection is becoming more challenging.

The airlines are seen going out of their way with hygiene and sanitation practices to ensure customers feel completely safe. Infact, several leading airlines can be seen posting videos and photographs of their equipped and sanitized aircraft, ready for usage. While all type of non-essential travel should be avoided right now, there is a reason why air travel still remains the safest options despite still being risky.

As per the WHO guidelines, it is essential to maintain a distance of at least one metre from others to prevent the novel coronavirus infection. As a result, the transmission risk reduces with the distance, which means it is limited to one row in front and one row in the back of the infected passenger. As the distance between infectious passenger increases, the risk drastically reduces.

Moreover, the sitting arrangement of the flight does not allow for a lot of free movement or interaction with other passengers (except the two sitting with you), which again is a piece of good news considering social distancing.

Even though an aircraft may seem like a confined space, it is loaded with airflow and filtration system to reduce cross-contamination. The air inside the aircraft is reportedly renewed every two to three minutes as it sucked out through the vents on the floor and passed through HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filters. These high-quality filters are similar to those used in hospitals and flush out 99.97 of particulates including the SARS-CoV-2 virus which is roughly 125 nanometres in diameter.

The Indian airline companies are also adding a host of precautions to make the air travel as safe as possible including the introduction of faces shields for the passengers. The flying crew will wear PPE kits to keep themselves and their passengers safe and special emphasis will be placed on regular cleaning and disinfection of high-touch points like food trays, seat handles, doorknobs, overhead bins to keep the bags etc.

To make travelling safe, temperature testing will be carried out at entry points of the airports and self-check-in and remote bag drops will be the new normal to avoid clustering of people. Additionally, new directives from the centre include that no meals will be served on the airlines to avoid cross-contamination and passengers must install Aarogya Setu App on their phones.

It is important to note that no amount of preventive methods can provide a hundred per cent guarantee of safety while travelling, including the flight. This is why it is important to weigh in all your options, assess your age and other risk factors and then only board the flight. While maintaining social distancing and wearing face-coverings and shields will provide you with a certain degree of protection, the risk of exposure will always be there.

This is why if you choose to travel by air, you may choose the window seat of the aircraft to avoid coming in contact with people getting up and going to the washroom or reaching out for overhead bins. Additionally, it is not the time spent in the aircraft which is riskier but the loitering around in airport while waiting to board the flight. This is the time when you need to be the most vigilant, avoid coming in contact with people, keep your hands strictly off your face and most importantly be aware of what you are touching. Remember that your mask should cover your nose and mouth and not be too loose.