Airlines send in world’s strongest disinfectants to fight virus

Bloomberg

Airlines are turning to the world’s hardest-hitting disinfectants to rid planes of the coronavirus.
Qantas Airways Ltd, Korean Air Lines Co and Singapore Airlines Ltd’s Scoot unit are among carriers that helped evacuate people from the outbreak’s epicenter, the Chinese city of Wuhan, and from a cruise ship off Japan. They’ve stepped up aircraft-cleaning efforts as a
result, trying to ensure that planes used in rescue missions are safe to be put back into commercial use.
The standard vacuum-and-wipe cleanups on board have turned into hospital-grade sterilisations for carriers.
Qantas used Viraclean, a disinfectant made by Sydney-based Whiteley. It’s a pink, lemon-scented liquid that kills a range of bacteria and viruses including Hepatitis B and herpes simplex, according to Whiteley.
Korean Air opted for MD-125. That’s a diluted version of D-125, a cleaning solution made by Microgen and used in industries from healthcare to poultry farming. The company says MD-125 acts against 142 bacteria and viruses, including salmonella, avian flu, HIV and measles.
Qantas used the same Boeing 747 on its two flights from Wuhan and another from Tokyo back to Australia. It was cleaned for 36 hours. Pillows, blankets, magazines and headphones were all thrown out, the airline said. The cabin was sprayed twice with disinfectant, which covered all the seats, floors, armrests, tray tables, overhead luggage bins and walls. The cabin was then wiped down. The plane’s air filters, which are similar to those used in surgical theatres, were also replaced.
Korean Air used one Boeing 747 on two flights from Wuhan, and an Airbus SE A330 for the third. As well as spraying and wiping down the cabin, cleaning teams replaced seat covers and dividing curtains near the galleys and disinfected the luggage hold, the airline said.
Scoot, a low-cost carrier owned by Singapore Airlines, sprayed a mist of “industrial-grade disinfectant” throughout the cabin — a process known
as fogging. Many airlines have stepped up normal cleaning procedures to limit the risk of contamination.
Singapore Airlines removed hot towels on some services and took away some of the shared reading material that’s usually found in the back of seats. Cathay Pacific Airways, perhaps the airline outside mainland China most affected by the health crisis, says it is disinfecting all cabin surfaces after each flight, including baby bassinets.
Any plane with a confirmed coronavirus case is cleaned and disinfected again, Cathay said.