Lovefly® Blog - Flying Is Safe Despite Covid 19

That is according to the experts, IATA.  From IATA comes great news.   A snippet from their website is below.

If you are not familiar with IATA, they are a fantastic organisation dedicated to commercial aviation.  They research and prepare documentation to advise airlines how to respond to, well, everything.  Click on the image to watch the helpful video.  

  

"Be reassured that the risk of contracting COVID-19 on board a flight is very low.

There have been millions of flights since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak resulting in less than 50 confirmed cases of transmission in-flight.

There are several reasons why this is the case:

Seating position - Most of the time on board, you are seated facing forward rather than facing another person. This makes a big difference in terms of the chance of breathing in someone else’s expelled breath.

Seat backs - A further barrier to COVID-19 spread is that high seatbacks act as a solid barrier.

High airflow rate  - Research has shown that the airflow in an aircraft (from ceiling to floor) is less conductive to droplet spread than other similar environments or modes of transport.  

Air exchange - Modern jet aircraft deliver high airflow and replacement rates, combined with hospital-grade High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters that are 99.9+% effective at removing viruses, bacteria and fungi. Cabin air is exchanged every 2-3 minutes."

IATA Website Link

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We know that some parts of the media are reporting otherwise but, commercial aviation is a low risk activity for Covid.  Don't take our word for it.  Please have a look at the research and articles on the IATA site and decide for yourself.  

Take care

Lovefly Team

team@lovefly.co.uk www.lovefly.co.uk 

For more fear of flying help:

• We have lots of helpful blogs you can read
• We are recording podcasts regularly on helpful topics for the nervous flyer.  Search 'Lovefly' on Podbean, Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts (https://lovefly.podbean.com)
• We have and will run webinars around fear of flying areas people want to know about and more information is on our website www.lovefly.co.uk 
• Audiobook written and narrated by Paul Tizzard available on Audible and most places you get your audio books from 'Helping You to Overcome Fear of Flying' (released this year)

Lovefly® Blog - Travelling by air during the Covid 19 Pandemic

 

In a nutshell, flying right now, during the Covid 19 pandemic, is safer than most people think.  This is not our view, this is a view from our friends at IATA. The website link is below if you want to see more information plus, they have put together a helpful video to reassure the 'want to travel' public.  Their website is literally rammed with helpful information for the nervous flyer - not just fear of flying linked to Covid 19.  Here is a helpful snippet from their terrific website:

'While the risk of catching an infection on an aircraft is typically lower than in a shopping center or an office environment, there are simple measures you can take to further reduce the risk when traveling: wear a mask, clean your hands regularly and check-in online to minimize contact at the airport.

And important to know: nearly all planes today have very sophisticated air filters which catch 99.99% of particles, including viruses like COVID-19. The cabin air is also replaced with new fresh air from outside every two to three minutes. This means that what you breathe onboard is the same quality as in an operating room at a hospital.    

Put it all together and flying remains one of the safest travel alternatives even during COVID-19.'

Please think about travelling if you can.  The airlines are struggling and we do not want to lose any more great travel companies.  Airlines have had to let go thousands of people due to this pandemic.  Flying is such an amazing privilege of our generation - don't you think?

IATA Website  

Helpful video from IATA explaining Covid 19 safety measures in place.

Take care,

Lovefly® Team

For more fear of flying help:

• We have lots of helpful blogs you can read
• We are recording podcasts regularly on helpful topics for the nervous flyer.  Search 'Lovefly' on Podbean, Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts
• We have and will run webinars around fear of flying areas people want to know about and more information is on our website www.lovefly.co.uk 
• Audiobook written and narrated by Paul Tizzard available on Audible and most places you get your audio books from 'Helping You to Overcome Fear of Flying' (released this year)

Lovefly® Blog - What are the chances of catching Covid on an aircraft?

One of our team caught this article from Tamara Hardingham-Gill, CNN Travel and she talks about the chances of catching Covid whilst travelling...and the news looks good.

All airlines have put measures in place to keep us safe during this time - we have talked about this in previous blogs.  We have talked about the amazing filtration system onboard aircraft too.  Many airlines, such as Delta, SouthWest and Delta Blue have started to fly with the middle seat empty. This helps, according to the research however, this is not sustainable for airlines commercially.  This is not just our view, this is also endorsed by IATA.

Tamara says...Fear of flying during the pandemic has drastically reduced global air traffic, which has also been restricted due to border closures. If new scientific claims are borne out, the perceived heightened risk of boarding an airplane could be unfounded.

In one case, about 328 passengers and crew members were tested for coronavirus after it was learned that a March 31 flight from the US to Taiwan had been carrying 12 passengers who were symptomatic at the time. However, all the other passengers tested negative, as did the crew members.

The article is a great read and will definitely help you if you are worried about flying and catching Covid.  Here is the full article.

Our view 

Commercial Aviation is an amazing privilege we have. Travel gives us opportunities that many of us take for granted.  Therein lies the problem.  We are taking it for granted.  We cannot assume that the rich choice of airlines will still be available when we feel ready to fly again! 

Airlines are a business and we have already seen well established travel companies and airlines disappear.  If we do not fly now, we will lose some more great airlines.  Please remember that the more airlines we have, the more competitive the prices. Great airlines such as Virgin, Southwest, EasyJet...have all started to provide a different service to what was already established.  If we don't fly, airlines will shut up shop and we will pay the price, literally.

Take care,

Lovefly® Team

P.S. Fly now and more please.