New Round of KMB Compartment Disinfection Work

The COVID-19 bounce back among communities has raised public awareness on safety issues. To safeguard passengers and staff members' health, KMB and LWB today (12 March) announced that the companies introduce a German antimicrobial coating technology to conduct a new round of disinfection work for the whole fleets. The technology has been adopted in the aviation and transportation industries. The coating effectively kills up to 99.99% of viruses and bacteria, including Coronavirus, with an effect that lasts for 12 months. To provide a clean compartment environment to passengers and staff members, KMB, LWB, and the disinfection contractor monitor the coating monthly.

German technology adopted in the aviation and transportation industries

AIRDAL®, a German company, invent the new round of disinfection technology adopted by KMB and LWB. The film with an antimicrobial agent forms a layer. It acts as an "antimicrobial sword" to destroy the virus's capsid (protein shell) and bacteria attached to objects. With the patented electrostatic spraying technology, the layer can closely attach to different parts of the compartment for killing 99.9% of the virus[1], bacteria, mold, and algae, including the COVID-19. It also helps to attract particulate matter. The technology, which can last for 12 months, meets the European non-toxic and environmental protection requirements and has passed EN9100/AS9100 Quality Management Standards for the aviation industry. It is used by multiple airlines around the world and the Hong Kong International Airport.

A spokesperson of KMB said although the total passenger volume of KMB and LWB has dropped 20%, the health issue of passengers and staff members is always KMB's top priority. Therefore, the company invests more resources to enhance the cleaning work. KMB and LWB are committed to conducting a monthly check on the antimicrobial layer's situation with the contractor to ensure its effectiveness.

Moreover, KMB has turned the ventilation window to be a standard feature of all new double-deck buses procured. These new buses with ventilation windows have gradually arrived in Hong Kong since last year. We call on the passenger to open the window to increase the ventilation of the compartment if necessary.

 ^[1] The amount of Coronavirus dropped 90% after an hour; the amount of Coronavirus dropped 99.5% after 8 hours.