Believe it or not, the air you breath on an airplane is actually cleaner than the air you will breath on a city bus, in an office building or even the air on a typical city street. Airplane air is recirculated between 15 – 20 times per hour and goes through a complex series of filters to clean out dust, vapors, bacteria and mold. Granted viruses may escape through the filtering process but generally viruses attach themselves to droplets which would then be trapped by the filters.
That being said, you can still catch something on airplane if the people around you are sick and sneezing or coughing in your space, or if you are touched or if there are germs in your food.
So, what should you do to minimize your chances of catching something if you do fly? Keep hydrated by drinking lots of water, moisturize your skin, wash your hands, change seats if the person next to you is obviously sick and most importantly, if you’re sick, don’t fly!
