The ease with which passengers can travel by air around the world can be exploited by germs and diseases. This can turn cabin cleaners into the first line of defence
In apron turnarounds, cleaning the passenger cabin, cockpit, galley and toilet areas is quick and often superficial. The removal of crumpled newspapers, magazines, blankets, headphones and the other detritus of the travelling public can take all the time allotted to cleaning.
Surprisingly there are no guidelines set by IATA or ICAO for cleaning or disinfecting aircraft. Airlines tend to do only what they are forced to do by regulation.
Bacoban, an antibacterial surface protection manufacturer, has developed a new brand, Virus Guard, specifically to help cleansing of the passenger cabin, according to Alex Sahni, CEO of Virus Guard.
He says: “It has been designed to protect air crew as well as passengers. Virus Guard is the only water-based product on the market with 10-day effectiveness. Aircraft are never disinfected and Virus Guard provides a cheap solution to clean galleys, galley tops, ovens, lavatories and lavatory door handles, and also to be used by ground cleaning staff for cleaning aircraft, instead of stain removing chemicals.”
10-day protection
Virus Guard is supplied as a liquid or in wet wipes. The chemical is made in Germany and the wet wipes are made in Istanbul.
Sahni says: “We are targeting ground handlers as well as airlines as our product has been approved for use on Airbus and Boeing aircraft. We supply directly to ground handlers and airlines. Our existing clients are Air Arabia, Sharjah Aviation Services and Flynas Airline from Saudi Arabia.
“Our pricing is cheaper than normal wipes; a pack of 20 wipes is $1 while a pack of 50 wipes is $1.50. For the chemical, we have 500ml ready-to-use spray at $5 while a 5l dilute to use is $30 per litre, which makes 500l ready to use. A litre would cost a ground handler $3.30 and is enough for cleaning an A320 or B737 aircraft.”
There are many disinfecting products in the market but Sahni is unaware of any other products which offer 10-day protection.
