According to a statement received by The Jakarta Post, the personal health kits will be distributed on domestic flights departing from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, to six big cities in Indonesia, namely Surakarta and Semarang in Central Java; Yogyakarta; Surabaya in East Java; Denpasar in Bali; and Medan in North Sumatra. 

Garuda Indonesia service, business development and information technology director Ade R. Susardi said the collaboration was in line with the airline’s efforts and commitments to provide health and safety services to passengers by consistently complying with the health protocols in all lines of operation. 

Dubbed CarexGAuntukIndonesia, the health kit comprises the necessary personal hygiene items, including a face mask and hand sanitizer. 

Ade expressed hope that the optimization of health protocol implementation that had been supported by Carex could increase the public’s confidence and interest in the flight safety and comfort offered by Garuda Indonesia. 

Meanwhile, PZ Cussons Asia managing director Dimitris Kostiani said the company wanted to provide double protection for Indonesian families who frequently travel by airplane. 

He also encouraged passengers to post photos of the personal health kit as the company would donate 50ml Carex hand sanitizer for every post.

Health and safety have become major concerns for airline passengers following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Last month, epidemiologist Tifauzia Tyassuma said there was a risk of virus transmission in the cabin.

“Viruses can multiply quickly in an environment like an airplane cabin,” she said, as quoted by tempo.co.  

She explained that closed-off areas without ventilation and with little sunlight, such as airplane cabins, put occupants at high risk of transmission.

Read also: Indonesian airlines lure passengers with discounts

Airlines including Garuda Indonesia, Batik Air and Lion Air have been using high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters to clean the air in circulation. 

The filters are said to be made of extremely tightly knit fibers that capture and remove impurities from the air.

Garuda Indonesia director Irfan Setiaputra said previously that the air circulation system in the airline’s planes was safer than those in home and office settings. 

“The HEPA filters clean up the air circulation. Furthermore, the air within the cabin circulates vertically, so it doesn’t spread,” Irfan said on July 24. 

With HEPA filters, Irfan said, pathogens in the cabin could disappear, as air from the cabin would be moved outside. Internationally, the airline industry has established three new health and safety initiatives to reassure passengers, AFP reported in August. (jes)