How Safe is Flying During Coronavirus?

How likely is it that you’ll catch coronavirus on a flight? The short answer is unclear. The long answer depends on where you are, how crowded the flight is, and many other factors. Scientists are still only in the beginning stages of getting research back from flights and examining the risks.

The risk is relatively low due to ventilation and air filtration. According to Julian Tang at the University of Leicester in the UK, “Overall, planes are probably safer than poorly ventilated pubs, where similar densities of people do not wear masks and talk a lot and loudly.”

It also depends on the country you’re in. Countries with fewer coronavirus cases make for safer travel. In South Korea, where 1 in 225,000 people test positive, flying is relatively safe. In the United States, where 1 in 6,500 people test positive, the risk is higher.

People with preexisting conditions or those who are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus should not travel. And recommendations are to limit travel.

Reported information from airlines found mixed results for flights. A January flight in China with one infected man got 11 of 325 people sick. He wasn’t wearing a mask. Another flight with an infected couple landed without transmission.

“The ventilation systems on planes are very effective in reducing the overall concentration of any airborne pathogen exhaled by passengers,” says Tang. To help lower risks, airlines check temperatures, require masks and disinfect planes between flights now. Risks decrease the emptier the plane is, according to Arnold Barnett from MIT.

Read more about protecting yourself from coronavirus. Check the CDC website for more information on how to protect yourself and check our latest article to learn how COVID-19 differs from the flu.

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