Florida-based Healthe has received a patent and technology licence from Boeing to manufacture an ultraviolet (UV) wand designed to sanitise airplane interiors.
The UV wand was designed and developed as part of Boeing’s Confident Travel Initiative (CTI) to support customers and enhance the safety and wellbeing of passengers and crews during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The UV wand is designed to be more effective than similar devices. It quickly disinfects surfaces on an airplane and further strengthens other layers of protection for passengers and crew,” said Mike Delaney, who leads Boeing’s CTI efforts. “Boeing spent six months transforming an idea for the wand into a working model, and Healthe will now take that prototype and make it available to the world at large.”
Healthe will produce and distribute the commercial wand, which could be available for airlines in late autumn.
The UV wand uses 222 nanometer UVC light. Research indicates 222 nanometer UVC deactivates pathogens effectively.
Using the self-contained apparatus that resembles a carry-on suitcase, crews can pass UV light over high-touch surfaces, sanitising everywhere the light reaches. The UV wand is particularly effective in compact spaces and sanitises a flight deck in less than 15 minutes.
