News

Spotless record in the world of hygiene
4 September, 2008

DUBAI, UAE, 4th September 2008 - Emirates takes great pride in the cleanliness of its aircraft, from the toilets to the seat upholstery, and everything in between. And this high standard was further underlined last month (July), when Emirates received the award for 'The World's Most Hygienic Airline',sponsored by Vizexon, the cleaning product specialist.

Gary Jones, Manager Cabin Maintenance, said: "A great deal of testing, planning and staff training has gone into the way we clean our aircraft cabins and I would particularly like to thank my colleagues Kamal Pharoun and Owen Winter, for their work in development. The work by our teams and contractors over the past 18 months to improve cabin standards has been fantastic. Our aim was to produce the world's most functional and hygienic cabin in the industry and with this award it proves we have reached that milestone.

"But, the work does not stop there. We are continually striving to improve on these high standards and as such we are constantly monitoring the way we carry out Mini Deep Cleans. A Mini Deep Clean requires 25 cleaning staff to clean a Boeing B777 for 8 hours duration - careful planning from aircraft scheduling is therefore paramount.

An industry first is the regular 'fogging' of Emirates aircraft cabins. This procedure is carried out after the whole aircraft has been cleaned. Hand-held devices are used to spray an eco-friendly disinfectant through out the cabin. However Emirates and Vizexon have developed an industry first process of introducing biocide fog into the aircraft cabin ventilation system which ensures protection against nasties such as Legionnaires disease, bird flu and SARS. Gary added: "Around 70% of the air in a modern aircraft cabin is recirculated during cruise. This saves fuel by demanding less pneumatic energy from the engines. We believe however that this could allow germs to become trapped in the cabin air conditioning system. By becoming the first airline to fog the cabin ventilation system we eliminate the possibility of any viruses lurking there and the swab test results have been dramatic.

"Everyone involved in this process, from the Emirates Cabin Appearance Specialists, who constantly monitor the cabin cleaning process and aesthetics, right through to Transguard and Dnata staff who carry out the actual cleaning work, deserves the highest praise for achieving these industry best standards."

The cleaning of an aircraft cabin is a painstaking and intricate project, whether it's the fast turnaround clean carried out by contracted companies throughout the route network or here in Dubai by Dnata, or the "Mini Deep Cleans" undertaken by the Transguard Group.

Anne Petersen, Transguard Divisional Director of Airside Services, said: "It is a real team effort to maintain Emirates cabins to such a high level of cleanliness. To be recognised as contributing to this award is a great accolade for all the Transguard staff who put so much effort into their work here."

Marie Laurie Fave, Transguard's Account Manager, said: "Each day we have 12 teams of some 21 staff (52 for the A380) who each carry out a 'Mini Deep Clean' on an aircraft located on the ramp here in Dubai, a task that takes up to eight hours solid work.We thoroughly clean the aircraft from top to bottom. The seats are carefully cleaned, stripping out and replacing all soiled or marked seat covers, while fabric-covered First and Business class seats are wet vacuumed as standard and all leather surfaces are cleaned and treated with special creams. At the same time we thoroughly clean all areas of the plane, including the toilets and galleys - even the air vents.

"Each aircraft is given a Mini Deep Clean every seven days, but the Dnata cleaning teams who carry out the fast turnaround cleans after each flight, help to keep the aircraft cabin looking pristine," she added.

When staff join the Transguard teams they are given a two week training course. This covers areas such as how to use the different cleaning chemicals as well detailed instruction on carrying out their work. All team members are continually monitored by Transguard as well as by Emirates, with a series of spot checks and audits. There is even a competition to identify and reward the team that scores the highest on their cleaning audits.

Dave Whyte, Transguard Operations Manager, added: "On average two aircraft in the hangar each day undergoing an A Check. We have two shifts of teams to carry out the deep cleans during these A checks. All seat covers are changed, cargo holds are cleaned, carpets are stripped and replaced."

Gladys Campbell, Emirates Cabin Appearance Specialist, added: "We have a number of specialist teams who carry out different aspects of the work. For example, we have a deinfestation team of Transguard staff that makes sure there are no cockroaches on the aircraft."

The attention to detail is astounding, even down to the special micro cloths used. All cloths are colour co-ordinated, which means only one colour type of cloth will be used in specific areas to prevent cross contamination, for instance red cloths are only ever used in the toilets, blue cloths for galleys and yellow cloths for passenger areas and light blue cloths for windows.

Ahmed Safa, Senior Vice President Engineering L&O, said: "The teams from Emirates, Transguard and Dnata deserve high praise for the work they have put in to achieve the accolade of being the world's most hygienic airline.

"We want to set the standards in this industry and I believe we are making all the right noises with regard to the cleanliness of the cabin. We have a high level of competence that must be maintained, and that is the challenge for the future. We derive our pride from a moral and ethical obligation to provide a cabin for our passengers that is of the highest quality in all aspects."