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 UVeya, a Swiss start-up, is conducting the trials of the robots with
Dubai-based airport services company Dnata inside Embraer jets from
Helvetic Airways, a charter airline owned by Swiss billionaire
Martin Ebner.
Aircraft makers still must certify the devices and are studying the
impact their UV light may have on interior upholstery, which could
fade after many disinfections, UVeya co-founder Jodoc Elmiger said.
Still, he's hopeful robot cleaners could reduce people's fear of
flying, even as COVID-19 circulates.
"This is a proven technology, it's been used for over 50 years in
hospitals and laboratories, it's very efficient," Elmiger said on
Wednesday. "It doesn't leave any trace or residue."
Elmiger's team has built three prototypes so far, one of which he
demonstrated inside a Helvetic jet at the Zurich Airport, where
traffic plunged 75% last year.
The robot's lights, mounted on a crucifix-shaped frame, cast
everything in a soft-blue glow as it slowly moved up the Embraer's
aisle. One robot can disinfect a single-aisled plane in 13 minutes,
start to finish, though larger planes take longer.
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Dnata executives hope airplane makers will sign off on the robots --
Elmiger estimates they'll sell for 15,000 Swiss francs ($15,930) or
so -- as governments require new measures to ensure air travellers
don't get sick.
"We were looking for a sustainable, and also environmentally
friendly solution, to cope with those requests," said Lukas Gyger,
Dnata's chief operating officer in Switzerland.
While privately owned Helvetic has not needed bailouts like much of
the industry, its business has also been gutted, with its fleet
sitting largely silently in hangars. UVeya's UV robots may help
change that, said Mehdi Guenin, a Helvetic spokesman.
"If our passengers, if our crew know our aircraft are safe -- that
there are no viruses or bacteria -- it could help them to fly
again," Guenin said.
($1 = 0.9418 Swiss francs)
(Writing by John Miller, reporting by Arnd Wiegmann in Zurich;
Editing by David Gregorio)
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