Flying in the age of Covid-19.
In a statement issued today Ryanair's Director of Engineering Karsten Muehlenfeld has sought to clarify the safety measures it is taking on its planes.
Throughout the Covid-19 crisis, Ryanair has cast itself at odds with public health advice on several occasions, categorising measures taken by the Irish government as "useless."
“At Ryanair, the COVID-19 lockdown presented the engineering team with many challenges. We thought a lot about how to maintain our aircraft to the highest safety standards – this included visual inspections every 2 days as well as test flights every fortnight to ensure all their systems were operating correctly,"said Muehlenfeld.
"We made sure all our aircraft were fitted with HEPA filters, which remove 99% of airborne particles, including SARs-CoV-2 droplets.
"Our cabins are also cleaned daily, with a fluid that ensures bacteria and viruses cannot sustain on surfaces. This disinfectant is effective for more than 24 hours."
In a 2016-study by NASA, it was tested and proven that HEPA filters were efficient at filtering particles at 0.01 micron, below the normal 0.3 test standard for HEPA filters.
Typically, Covid-19 falls in between 0.06 micron (60 nanometers) and 0.14 micron (140 nanometers) in diameter.
Last month, Ryanair Group CEO Michael O'Leary called Ireland's policy of calling for two weeks of self-isolation following travel to the country an "unexplainable, ineffective, and unimplementable quarantine restriction." O'Leary has also said it would be "idiotic" to fly with middle-seats empty.
