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Evaluation of Aircraft Boarding Scenarios Considering Reduced Transmissions Risks

Author

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  • Michael Schultz

    (Institute of Logistics and Aviation, Dresden University of Technology, 01069 Dresden, Germany
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Jörg Fuchte

    (Diehl Aviation, 21129 Hamburg, Germany
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

Air travel appears as particularly hazardous in a pandemic situation, since infected people can travel worldwide and could cause new breakouts in remote locations. The confined space conditions in the aircraft cabin necessitate a small physical distance between passengers and hence may boost virus transmissions. In our contribution, we implemented a transmission model in a virtual aircraft environment to evaluate the individual interactions between passengers during aircraft boarding and deboarding. Since no data for the transmission is currently available, we reasonably calibrated our model using a sample case from 2003. The simulation results show that standard boarding procedures create a substantial number of possible transmissions if a contagious passenger is present. The introduction of physical distances between passengers decreases the number of possible transmissions by approx. 75% for random boarding sequences, and could further decreased by more strict reduction of hand luggage items (less time for storage, compartment space is always available). If a second door is used for boarding and deboarding, the standard boarding times could be reached. Individual boarding strategies (by seat) could reduce the transmission potential to a minimum, but demand for complex pre-sorting of passengers. Our results also exhibit that deboarding consists of the highest transmission potential and only minor benefits from distance rules and hand luggage regulations.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Schultz & Jörg Fuchte, 2020. "Evaluation of Aircraft Boarding Scenarios Considering Reduced Transmissions Risks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-20, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:13:p:5329-:d:379019
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    2. Haque, Md Tabish & Hamid, Faiz, 2022. "An optimization model to assign seats in long distance trains to minimize SARS-CoV-2 diffusion," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 104-120.
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    5. Paul Schwarzbach & Julia Engelbrecht & Albrecht Michler & Michael Schultz & Oliver Michler, 2020. "Evaluation of Technology-Supported Distance Measuring to Ensure Safe Aircraft Boarding during COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-15, October.
    6. Haque, Md Tabish & Hamid, Faiz, 2023. "Social distancing and revenue management—A post-pandemic adaptation for railways," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    7. Schultz, Michael & Soolaki, Majid & Salari, Mostafa & Bakhshian, Elnaz, 2023. "A combined optimization–simulation approach for modified outside-in boarding under COVID-19 regulations including limited baggage compartment capacities," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
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    9. R John Milne & Liviu-Adrian Cotfas & Camelia Delcea & Liliana Crăciun & Anca-Gabriela Molănescu, 2020. "Adapting the reverse pyramid airplane boarding method for social distancing in times of COVID-19," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-26, November.

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