HEALTH

Action

The European Commission published the amended Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-24 on 31 March 2023. The overall driver of Cluster 5 — “Climate, Energy and Mobility” is to accelerate the green and digital transition, and the associated transformation of the economy, industry, and society to achieve climate neutrality in Europe by 2050.

This cluster contains seven research actions, which have been delegated to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) as contracting authority. This project addresses the following action: ew health safety measures in aircraft.

Expected outcome

The main objective of the project is to investigate the possibilities to further reduce the spread of a series of infectious agents (viruses, bacteria, fungi) within the aircraft environment. Those agents are spread through contact with contaminated surfaces of cabin interior components (cockpit, lavatories, galleys, seats, etc.) or by inhalation.

This project should contribute to the preparedness of the air transport system to achieve a strong resilience to infectious disease outbreak or high-threat pathogen events, which is an essential enabler for the passenger and crew safety as well as for the sustainability of the air transport sector.

The anticipated outcome of the project is to provide scientific evidence to support regulatory decision-making, as well as an implementation roadmap for the Agency and industry. The project shall take into consideration retrofit solutions, as well as solutions applicable to new cabin designs, and proposed design solutions shall meet EASA certification specifications (CSs).

Required output

This research project is expected to analyse scientifically proven measures to reduce the spread of infectious agents within the aircraft environment. In addition, risks associated with contact with contaminated surfaces will have to be addressed, including the impact that various disinfection and cleaning methods that are implemented by operators may have not only on initial-airworthiness aspects but also on continued-airworthiness aspects.

To adequately recommend regulatory changes, the project will report on the assessed effectiveness of several measures to prevent the spread of pathogens within the aircraft cabin, on the potential constraints for their permanent use, as well as on the potential negative impact on materials and/or crew, with focus on the following:

• assessment of the potential of spread of microorganisms from a contaminated passenger onboard;
• improvement of air filtration systems, recirculation systems and cabin airflow, including distribution of individual air supply nozzles;
• introduction of surface treatments (e.g. microbe-repellent materials) that could be used in aircraft interior design;
• review of the efficacy of chemical and non-chemical cleaning and disinfection methods, and of the associated impact on airworthiness of cabin interior materials; and
• demonstration of possibilities to ensure an adequate/sufficient hygiene level for the prevention of public-health risk.