If you ARE concerned about catching Covid, would you fly (short haul) now?

[Rosiestraws]

Let me preface this by saying I AM concerned about catching Covid - both in general and before Christmas in particular. I appreciate some people aren't worried/have had it etc and this isn't for those people! I have never caught Covid (that I am aware of!) and I am double vaxxed, with booster tomorrow. (Mid 30s, no health conditions that I am aware of). I have developed anxiety over the last year because of the pandemic but generally it has been much better the past 6 months or so and I've got back to a semi normal life going out and about as I always would do - wearing masks of course where I feel the need (and certainly everywhere recommended).

I am supposed to be flying short haul to a very low risk place for Covid to visit my partner's family. This is to be there for a few days and back before Christmas.

I was a bit worried but generally ok with it all when booked. Now with the Omicron variant, cases rising etc I am concerned about catching Covid before Xmas and missing out on having Xmas with my family.

My main fears would be a) catching it from someone in his family - there are a handful of nieces and nephes unvaxxed due to age. His siblings are vaxxed and careful I believe but who knows for sure how careful.. they will be travelling from similar areas to where we live to this place that is very low risk. b) Catching it on the airplane/airport etc.

My partner thinks I am being silly/unreasonable and that I have been on the tube for a similar length of time as the plane trip would be and same risk catching it there. (I have to do this tube journey to go between his place and mine - I would rather avoid it but I do see his point in that I am doing it still). I have also been to restaurants/bars - although I choose them carefully for well spaced out places etc and not packed places. I would also plan to stop this from tomorrow basically - 10 days ish before Christmas.

There's just something about the idea of getting a plane and not being able to get off it and sitting right next to people and people all around me that concerns me (tube doors open every stop by comparison and I don't get on busy tubes so there is always space around me/I sit by the windows etc) Also being in an airport with SO many people. There is no need to have any sort of covid test to/from this place we are travelling to as it is part of the UK. I would be a bit more relaxed if everyone on the plane needed to take PCR tests! I should also add that he will of course be staying on with his family for Xmas so I would be flying there with him for a few days, then flying back alone to go to my family for Xmas.

Would you do it? Would your answer change if you were taking the other risks I am (tube/restaurants) and would you view it the same as that?

I’d say I was pretty chill but I’m not flying anywhere (or on a tube!!). Too many folks in close confines unnecessarily!

Airports are VERY quiet at the moment - at around 30% of usual capacity.

I flew a few weeks ago and everyone had a mask on. Plane was half empty on way, fairly full on way back.

It was a breeze through security etc.

I think it’s normal and intelligent to be apprehensive. If it’s a short flight you are as likely to get it having a coffee with a friend. But I understand it doesn’t feel like that.

@Newgirls

Airports are VERY quiet at the moment - at around 30% of usual capacity.

I flew a few weeks ago and everyone had a mask on. Plane was half empty on way, fairly full on way back.

It was a breeze through security etc.

I think it’s normal and intelligent to be apprehensive. If it’s a short flight you are as likely to get it having a coffee with a friend. But I understand it doesn’t feel like that.

I'd be more likely to avoid going to a busy restaurant at the moment, than to the airport and on a plane.

I would feel much safer on a plane than the tube, due to the air quality. Extract from NY times article: "Experts from various fields agree that the air on a plane cabin is filtered very well and the chances of getting the coronavirus while on a plane in flight are low. That’s because most planes have what are known as high-efficiency particulate air filters. H.E.P.A. is a designation describing filters that can trap 99.97 percent of particles that are at least 0.3 microns in size."
Full article: www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/travel/air-travel-safety-coronavirus.html

I think a plane is high risk for catching Covid. Also airports. And going to another area. But you could still catch it if you did none of those things. Its a personal decision.

@Newgirls

Airports are VERY quiet at the moment - at around 30% of usual capacity.

I flew a few weeks ago and everyone had a mask on. Plane was half empty on way, fairly full on way back.

It was a breeze through security etc.

I think it’s normal and intelligent to be apprehensive. If it’s a short flight you are as likely to get it having a coffee with a friend. But I understand it doesn’t feel like that.

But surely from this weekend onwards prior to Xmas they're going to get busier as that's when everyone will travel

My OH has got to come back to the UK this week for his dad's funeral, we only moved here 6 weeks ago.

3 tests for a 5 day trip. If one is positive he'll have to stay in the UK. :(

Not looking forward to the stress in between each test and the result to be honest. First test is tomorrow.

I am not going for the reasons that you OP have mentioned, I just don't want to risk being stuck in the UK for an unknown period.

No I’m not concerned and yes I would fly. 🙂

Air filtration on a plane is efficient and very effective. On the tube it's practically non-existent. I'd be much more concerned about catching it on the latter than the former.

(but in general I'm not particularly concerned about catching it myself anyway, so this probably colours my view).

I am travelling for Christmas, and I am worried about it, yes.
I want to spend Christmas with my family, not having been able to last year. I've limited my social interaction (basically just been out for groceries) since last Friday - and will need an antigen test to fly (to Ireland from Switzerland).
I'm not too worried about having it already - but there's no getting away from a busy airport and a busy flight. Yes, everyone over 12 will need an antigen test and will have a mask - but most transmission here seems to be in the under 12s anyway.
But the alternative is spending Christmas alone, so I'm going to chance it. I'll have an FFP2 mask. I'll bring my work laptop and can work from there if I got stuck (not allowed back to the office until 24th January anyway). My mum has had her three jabs. I haven't - I can't here until 6 months post dose-2 and that will not be until 24thDec.

I have flown all the way through the pandemic. Airports are largely empty, people have had PCR tests, planes are only half-full and the plane air is HEPA filtered.

I wouldn’t worry about catching Covid on the journey. Just keep your mask on.

You are right OP that usually it gets busier about now. But it will still be far far quieter than usual. I found my airport experience quite enjoyable as I could browse in empty shops, choose where to sit and the plane boarded quickly. And I usually hate flying. I am sure there are some busier times than others but nothing like pre covid.

How can air filtration be efficient on a plane? Every time you fly (pre covid) you pick up something. They would not be able to take in fresh air at the altitude they fly and heat it up, so it's not fresh air that's coming in. Recirculated covid.

@Skinnytailedsquirrel They absolutely do pull air in from outside the aircraft, in addition to pulling it all through Hepa filters every 2 to 3 minutes.

https://www.pall.com/en/aerospace/commercial-fixed-wing/how-cabin-air-systems-work.html

I used to fly very regularly for work; if I 'picked something up every time' I'd never be well

We're in a similar situation. We avoided most international travel in last couple of years (a couple of ferries and a short flight for family trips), no sun holidays as it 'wasn't the right thing to do' etc.

Booked trip away in early new year before omicron and exploding numbers, and we are still going.

Having some wobbles but... numbers where I am are WAY higher than where we're going.

As I see it, going to the supermarket/busy town centre to Christmas shop is probably higher exposure risk than going on plane where everything much better controlled.

So to echo a PP, YANBU to be worried, but don't let it stop you.

@ImInStealthMode well your link shows approx 50% of air taken and the other 50% of course is recirculated - which doesn't really mean a lot if the passenger next to you has Covid.

We just flew short and long-haul to visit our family (we live internationally away from them). We're also double vaxxed mid thirties/forties (DH), no health problems. It did feel quite safe as everyone is wearing masks and also have to have had a neg PCR within past 2 days to fly (I guess different for domestic), so probably airline passengers are actually less likely to have COVID than tube passengers from that perspective. Also airplane cabin air is renewed every 90 seconds (not so on the tube I don't think).

However, I can understand the anxiety around flying, I also have flying anxiety.

And, of course, the less exposure to people in general, the better. We were just desperate to see family after 2 years of being apart.

@Skinnytailedsquirrel

How can air filtration be efficient on a plane? Every time you fly (pre covid) you pick up something. They would not be able to take in fresh air at the altitude they fly and heat it up, so it's not fresh air that's coming in. Recirculated covid.

As a point of info “They” do take in fresh air at altitude….if they didn’t, and instead the same air was simply recirculated around the cabin without being changed during the flight then eventually everybody would suffocate.

What actually happens is as the aircraft flies along air is drawn into the compressor stages at the front of the engines, and some of that air is tapped off for various uses, rather going on through the engine to be used in the combustion process.

Due to it having been compressed this air as is very very hot..(a couple of hundred degrees celsius, maybe more isn’t uncommon) so the portion of it destined for the cabin then has to be cooled down by air conditioning packs before being fed into the cabin, where it replaces the older air which in turn is dumped out of valves on the outside of the hull.

There is some recycling (and also filtering) but ultimately the air in an aircraft cabin ends up being changed dozens of times an hour.

Hope that helps.

skybrary.aero/articles/aircraft-bleed-air-systems

Having caught swine flu on a plane years ago, I wouldn't be rushing to get on a plane at the minute.

I understand the anxiety but TBH when I try and take an overview of a journey I’ve made a few times over the last two years, which involves both flying and public transport to/from London then it feels to me as if the really exposed portion of the journeyis the hourish I spend on the Piccadilly line, not the two hours on an aircraft and certainly not the time at the airport.

If peoples journeys involves a flight but doesn’t involve public transport then I’m sure the perception is different.

We flew to Europe last week. I'd preferred not to but dh hasn't seen his family in 2 years. We have a 3 year old and an almost 5 month old. Flight was pretty quiet . We are staying in his parents house. His day went to the office on Wednesday and tested positive on Sunday. Now we al have to do 3 pcr tests in the next 6 days and I'm really worried about catching it. Also has to cancel one of the family gatherings that was planned for the weekend which was kind of the point of us coming to see his extended family.

Our department is currently dealing with TTP, have access to the database etc and a high proportion of travellers end up testing positive. They have been returning from countries where testing/isolation has been a requirement though.

We can see that children who test positive seem to pass it on to the fully vaccinated slightly less then the unvaccinated parents. Who knows how reliable this data actually is….

Planes just recycle air, so it seems likely that if there are a few positive people boarding a flight, they would infect potentially everyone. Tubes are also high risk areas for contracting covid, along with bars/pubs, the staff who serve you are coming in to contact with lots of customers and presumably you use the toilets in these establishments.
I think it’s inevitable that everyone will get covid (unless you shield). Are you cev OP? Is there a specific reason you are so anxious?

I don’t want covid, but like you I also go to pubs/bars, not often just occasionally. I then wait 4/5 days before LFT and seeing my mum. I would travel on a plane, but not if I was seeing my DM afterwards. I have a child in school though, so it feels more inevitable for me. I don’t think we’ve had covid, but who knows….
Good luck whatever you decide.

I'm very concerned about covid and take great care. However, I discovered that my elderly mom abroad was ill and depressed and has been super isolated since the plague began. I've flown to see her three times now (she's doing much better). What I do in addition to the required testing is to double mask (medical grade disposable underneath and tight tied cotton mask over top) on the plane. I do not remove my mask for any reason, not even to eat or drink. I also carry wipes and clean surfaces, my phone, and my hands constantly. As soon as I get to my destination I take a long shower and change. Based on the reading I have done, the main risk is not planes, because they've sorted their air filter issues, but the airports, where air is not filtered and a lot of folks are eating. I've not gotten sick in all these travels.

A plane is way safer than the tube, regardless of doors opening on tubes. Aircraft have limited number of passengers who stay in their seats, wear face masks and the air flow on a plane makes it quite low risk. A plane is cleaned after each sector whereas a tube runs all day. This information from Iata explains the air flow.

www.iata.org/en/youandiata/travelers/health/low-risk-transmission/

I wouldn’t unless it was really important.

I’m not sure a plane is any safer than a tube. I saw a story a while back where a plane load of people were all negative on leaving and on arrival at the destination they were all positive. All wearing masks. Of course this must have been a long haul flight not short haul but still it’s food for thought.