How UVC Robots can Help the Travel Sector this Christmas Rush
Apart from the summer holidays, Christmas is one of the busiest seasons for travel in the calendar year. However, COVID-19 has been a source of anxiety for passengers and travel companies alike, with restrictions and infection rates differing from country to country. Air traffic remains low compared to pre-COVID-19 levels, reflecting the continued sense of anxiety, even two years since COVID-19 was first identified in China.
However, there is a ray of light amidst the gloom to help give passengers and travel companies greater reassurance that the travel experience can be as safe as possible this Christmas. Growing numbers of businesses and airports are making use of UV-C robots to disinfect facilities and minimise the risk of COVID-19 spreading.
Swiss resorting to robots
Earlier this year, the World Economic Forum reported on the Swiss resorting to using UV robot technology to neutralise viruses aboard passenger planes with UV light. A Swiss start-up was tasked with conducting trials in conjunction with airport services company Dnata to use its robots to disinfect Embraer jets provided by Helvetic Airways, owned by Swiss billionaire Martin Ebner.
The robots used a crucifix-shaped beam of UV-light to disinfect the jets, and were capable of doing so on a single-ailed craft in just 13 minutes, but it was revealed larger aircraft could take longer to process. The SOL robot from Evolve Raybotix is capable of conducting a disinfection cycle across an area of 100 metres squared in just 7-16 minutes, going to show just how efficient UV-C robot technology truly is.
The Swiss aren’t the only ones getting in on the act. In September 2020, Businesswire reported a number of examples of the practical uses for UV robot technology in making travellers all over the world enjoy safer journeys. For example, St Pancras International in London has reportedly been using such machines to disinfect bathrooms at the stations. Meanwhile, Heathrow Airport has also been using UV robots prior to September 2020.
Airports aren’t the only port of call for UV robots to do their work. Hotels such as the Clarion Hotel at Copenhagen Airport, where a large number of passengers are required to stay for short periods, have employed such robots, ensuring communal areas and conference rooms are as clean as possible.
The cost of cancelling Christmas
The science behind using UV light for disinfection purposes is clear: UV light has been found to damage the DNA and RNA of viruses and pathogens, preventing them from reproducing and infecting people. Robots such those we supply at Evolve Raybotix employ the use of UV-C light, which is capable of killing 99.9 per cent of known germs and viruses on all surfaces and all environments.
Conventional methods of cleaning, such as manual cleaning of surfaces using disinfectant chemicals can often miss harder-to-find germs and viruses, unlike UV-C light beams, which can reach these shaded areas using Ozone diffusion. More coverage by our robots means a lower likelihood that germs and viruses are still present following a cleaning session, reducing the risk of infection down the road. Fewer infections help instil greater confidence for travellers to set off on their journeys this Christmas.
More effective means of disinfecting airports, train stations hotels and other essential transport routes and facilities helps limit the impact of COVID-19 on the travel sector, which is in need of a boost, especially in time for Christmas. It was estimated that 39,000 people had lost their jobs in the travel sector by August 2020, as a result of just the first lockdown alone. This was equivalent to 18 per cent of the travel industry jobs market being laid off in one fell swoop, due to COVID-19 alone, and this number may have increased significantly since then.
Rising case numbers of COVID-19 represents a great cost to our health, as well as to the economy at a time when the travel sector in particular is especially fragile. The cost of cancelled flights and train journeys, plus staff having to take sick leave due to testing positive for COVID-19 risks bring the travel sector to a grinding halt, stopping millions of us from being with loved ones during the festive season, something which is impossible to put a value on.
Investing in the future
Investing in UV robot technology is investing in the future, and money well spent. It is especially true for the travel sector, which is in urgent need of that footfall during the festive season in order to stay afloat during turbulent economic times.
Evolve Raybotix is in a position to provide an array of UV-C disinfection robots which can be operated both manually and automatically, carrying out deep cleans without the need for harmful chemicals, simply beams of concentrated UV-C light. They do so, not only using UV-C light but also Ozone gas, which makes sure our robots eradicate any unwanted viruses or germs before the gas is dispersed back into oxygen that is safe to breathe.
To learn more about what Evolve Raybotix can offer your business today, get in touch with us, so we can find out the best way to meet your disinfection requirements as efficiently as possible.