Hygiene in flight by Turkish Airlines Office in Atlanta

 It's needless to say hygiene is extremely important in general, that being said airline travel is not exactly the most hygienic part of the journey. In fact, many airlines we travel on are not hygienic. Even after strict guidelines were passed after the COVID, we still are yet to see their implementation. 

According to a UK study, many bacteria that are injurious to human health are found in seat pockets, hand rests and toilets, and there is a high probability that you might get sick if you don't take proper measures.

That being said not all is lost when it comes to a more hygienic or more sanitary travel experience. Turkish Airlines Office in Atlanta to ensure that we all have a clean flight but we will talk about it later. First, let's look at what we can do in order to stay clean and stay safe during our travel.

Things you can do for preventive measures

Wash your hands regularly

Hand washing on a regular basis is an easy yet very powerful way to keep yourself healthy and hygienic. It entails giving your hands a thorough cleansing with soap and water to help get rid of any dirt, bacteria, or viruses you may have come into touch with during the day. Frequent hand washing can help lower your risk of infection and stop the spread of common illnesses including the flu, the common cold, and gastrointestinal disorders. This is especially important before eating, after using the restroom, and after touching frequently used surfaces. Handwashing is an essential practice that is crucial to both personal and public hygiene since it safeguards not only your own health but also the health of people around you.

Use Sanitizer with 60% or more alcohol

While you may have heard this uncountable times that use sanitizer in the COVID, it is important to carry one even without COVID. When you buy one then be sure that the alcohol content in the sanitizer is high, a good quantity is more than 60 percent. This is because if it is below 60% then it will not kill many bacteria that might be harmful to your health.

For on-the-go hand hygiene, hand sanitizers with 60% or more alcohol are an extremely efficient substitute for soap and water. Ethyl alcohol or isopropyl alcohol, which are powerful chemicals that kill bacteria and viruses, are present in these sanitizers. When used properly, they can help stop the spread of illnesses by rapidly lowering the amount of bacteria on your hands. To use, just liberally coat the palm of one hand with sanitizer and rub your hands together, covering all surfaces, including the spaces between your fingers and the area beneath your nails, until your hands are completely dry. Even when soap and water aren't available, you can still practice proper hand hygiene by using a hand sanitizer that has at least 60% alcohol when soap and water are not readily available.

Use sanitizing wipes to clean your space

The majority of the risk that you have in getting sick is when your space ie your seats, armrests, and seat pockets are not clean. To avoid this you can use sanitizing wipes to clean them. They contain chemicals harmful to bacteria, thus cleaning the majority of the area that you will utilize when you are flying.

Maintaining a hygienic atmosphere can be easy and efficient with the help of sanitizing wipes. Pre-moistened with a disinfectant solution, these wipes are capable of eliminating a broad spectrum of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens from surfaces. They are ideal for rapidly disinfecting and cleaning high-touch surfaces like worktops, light switches, doorknobs, and keyboards. To ensure maximum disinfection, all you have to do is use a wipe from the container to thoroughly wipe down the surface, making sure it remains visibly wet for the duration indicated on the product label. Sanitizing wipes is especially helpful in stopping the spread of germs in homes, workplaces, and classrooms, making these environments safer and healthier for everyone.

Wear mask

It is imperative to wear a mask to minimize the spread of respiratory diseases, such as COVID-19 viruses. Respiratory droplets are released when someone talks, coughs, or sneezes. Masks serve as a barrier to help keep these droplets from getting to other people. You protect those around you when you wear a mask, especially in confined or crowded areas where it can be difficult to maintain social distance. Several different kinds of masks provide varying degrees of protection, such as N95 respirators, surgical masks, and cotton masks. A mask must completely enclose the lips and nose to be effective. Wearing a mask considerably improves public health and safety when paired with other preventative measures like handwashing and physical separation.

Guidelines by Turkish Airlines Atlanta Office

These are the guidelines by the Turkish Airlines Atlanta Office

"Since more than hundreds of people board the plane at a time the cabins are cleaned with antibacterial cleaners after every flight to meet the need of hygiene. Even though the airline companies show utmost care and consequence, the risk of diseases can not be totally eradicated from the plane. All diseases that are airborne can easily spread inside the cabin of the plane. Flu, along with the common cold, is considered to be one of the biggest threats to health during a flight. History is just the beginning: an aircraft cabin lends itself to viruses—confined space, shared air, and so on. In Canada, a 2004 study published in the Journal of Environmental Health Research followed up on passengers' health histories after a five-hour flight from San Francisco to Denver. Indeed, according to these findings, travelers are more likely to catch the cold virus during a flight than in regular life. According to the authors, among the factors responsible for this increased risk are the proximity of seats to one another, shared cabin air, and very low humidity levels. Even as some risks have been established with respect to flying, there are still ways to protect yourself against flu and the common cold during a flight.

Therefore, some precautionary measures must be taken to prevent falling sick due to air travel. The following points may be directed towards cabin air quality, cabin oxygen, and moisture and microbial infections from neighboring passengers. For every airborne travel, the plane is sterilized with proper hygiene and disinfection of the cabins, toilets, food trays, and seats. However, as far as your immune system is concerned, this will not guarantee protection from infections. A study by researchers investigating the hygiene of airplanes collected swab samples from five different airlines. It was found to have the most contaminated area, which was food trays. Remember to sterilize your food tray with a wipe before eating and always wash your hands before and after meals.

It was also observed in this study that the toilet flush knob is a major contributor to infections in airplanes. Because hundreds of passengers rush to this particular knob once they exit the lavatory, it harbors many bacteria and microbes. Try to avoid touching the flush knob directly, so your exposure can be reduced. Use a handkerchief or wipe instead while flushing. This will protect you against infections during the journey."

Hope you take something away from this and have a safe and hygienic flight.