Kansai airport starts evaluating equipment for disinfecting baggage carts
Kansai International Airport in Osaka has begun trial use of a system that emits ultraviolet light to disinfect luggage carts, hoping it will make passengers feel safer amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The system proved successful in deactivating the COVID-19-causing virus in laboratory experiments, said Iwasaki Electric Co, its Tokyo-based developer.
Measuring 4 meters in length, 1.1 meters in width, and 1.8 meters in height, in around 90 seconds, the system can disinfect up to 10 carts at the same time. It was installed in the airport’s Terminal 1.
By scanning a QR code with a smartphone attached to it, passengers can verify whether a cart has been sterilized. Around 1,200 carts, which will last until March, are being used in the trial.
Until determining whether to completely deploy the vehicles, the airport operator may collect data such as the passenger use of the carts.
“We will see how (the system) will affect passengers’ sense of safety,” said an official at Kansai Airports.
Source: Japan Today
