Interview: Lufthansa Technik endorses The Open World Technology Group’s high-traffic sanitisation solution

UK/INTERNATIONAL. In 2021, The Moodie Davitt Report reported on a potentially game-changing sanitising and air quality solution targeted at spaces where the public gathers, including airports, from London-headquartered The Open World Technology GroupOur Senior Business Editor Mark Lane caught up with co-founders Saad Audeh and Mike Reeves to find how a breakthrough accreditation from Lufthansa Technik, the world-renowned aircraft services giant, is set to propel significant business for their solution from the aviation sector.

A holistic sanitising solution developed by The Open World Technology Group (TOWTG) and its credibility in the aviation sector has been handed a major lift after a key element in its structure received endorsement from one of the world’s most-respected companies.

The cost of keeping each commercial aircraft clean can be cut significantly using The Open World Technology Group’s TiTANO-Air, a transparent, non-toxic coating (seen being applied to an aircraft here)

After testing on German flag carrier Lufthansa’s commercial aircraft throughout 2021, Lufthansa Technik has approved the nanotechnology-based TiTANO-Air, a surface hygiene solution for sectors such as transport, healthcare and the food industry.

This opens up multiple possibilities for TOWTG, not least in providing its sanitising solution to airlines and other aviation-related applications. This includes the multiple surfaces in terminals, lounges and crew rooms within airports and their wider facilities.

The potential savings in annual cleaning costs per individual aircraft through the use of TiTANO-Air runs into tens of thousands of AEuros, according to TOWTG. This can amount, the company says, to cost reductions of up to 75%. It claims that one airline it has had discussions with could save approximately €75,000 (US$85,100) per year on each aircraft.

Couple these significant potential savings with the man hours that go into daily deep-cleaning processes of planes and TiTANO-Air’s environmentally-friendly credentials, and you have a compelling sanitisation proposition for all airlines.

“COVID is here to stay and will continue to mutate to different variants. We must look into science and technology as the cure, and adopt solutions such as the one that we are offering. The measures that are currently in place are simply not good enough and it is time to act now” – The Open World Technology Group Co-founder Saad Audeh

TiTANO-Air has been developed by German company HECOSOL and is commercially delivered by TOWTG with a single application effective for up to one year, providing exceptionally high levels of protection against bacteria, odour and viruses.

It is abrasion-resistant, absorbs volatile organic compounds (such as VOCs, acetone and formaldehyde) and thus helps to improve the air and general safety of high traffic areas and other places where the public gather.

Saad Audeh describes the endorsement by Lufthansa Technik for TiTANO-Air is a breakthrough moment for The Open World Technology Group

After TiTANO-Air’s application, any additional cleaning for spills etc is completed using water-based technology (TOWTG recommends HENCO 9090) only, removing the need for using harmful disinfectants and cutting down on the unnecessary use of energy from air conditioning systems used to clean the air.

TOWTG’s revolutionary system for sanitisation is completed by ‘Ozone Destruct’ – a pre-sanitising process – and a monitoring system known as Velvet, which visualises what is ‘clean’ in any given space.

TOWTG (part of SIA Holding) was founded by two experienced executives – Saad Audeh and Mike Reeves – with close links to the airline, travel and hospitality industries. These relationships have been in place for more than two decades and build on the 20 years-plus contact that SIA’s directors have had with major airports, notably London Heathrow Airport.

The key elements in The Open World Technology Group’s sanitisation solution (click to enlarge)

Following the global demand for the net zero carbon targets, TOWTG researches and utilises best practice technology in sanitisation to aid industries to work in a more efficient, sustainable and environmentally-friendly manner, promoting a healthier and safer environment for client workforces and their customers.

“It’s completely nonsensical to continually spray disinfectant and say it’s clean – it is not true, as you just contaminate it again with pollutants” – The Open World Technology Group Co-founder Mike Reeves

Audeh believes the endorsement by Lufthansa Technik for TiTANO-Air is a breakthrough for the TOWTG business and its wider sanitisation solution. He says: “TiTANO-Air has been created to provide a safe, environmentally-friendly, and commercially beneficial solution to the sanitisation of aircraft cabins and other commercial spaces.

“Extensive tests by Lufthansa Technik onboard Lufthansa Group aircraft on scheduled flights throughout this year have proven successful, resulting in an official endorsement by Lufthansa Technik confirming use effectiveness onboard commercial aircraft.

The Open World Technology Group claims that its customers can make a big return on investment by adopting its sanitisation solution (click to enlarge)

“The Open World Technology Group team are now the official distributor of TiTANO-Air and have been approved, trained and certified by HECOSOL to apply and supply the solutions to aircraft cabins globally, working with the support of Lufthansa Technik, as the warranty is granted by them.”

Reeves underlines some of the environmental benefits of TiTANO-Air and the cleaning methods it could replace. “The airline industry focuses on the use of disinfectants for cleaning aircraft which has hazardous negative effects,” he says. “By using those what you’re doing is smothering the aircraft in contaminants; they’re cleaning, but they’re toxic, so the air is having to be cleaned harder by the air filters on the plane which has a further environmental impact in its waste of energy.”

The challenge of providing clean air – a key element of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development –underpins much of what TOWTG is trying to deliver with its high-traffic cleaning methods.

Mike Reeves underlined why the use of traditional disinfectants for cleaning high-traffic areas is very inefficient and harmful to the environment

Reeves explains: “When we set up the business, it wasn’t because of the COVID-19 pandemic but more the wider, related business of the importance of clean air and reducing harmful emissions. Our research revealed that the air inside a building can be seven times as toxic as the air outside.

“So how do we keep the air clean inside? Not by using air conditioning systems, which creates a lot of energy usage. So, we looked at how we create something that cleans the air and keeps the surfaces clean, and gets some normality back into life, without the constant daily, weekly and monthly applications that we see inside airports at the moment, for example. TiTANO-Air is the answer.

“It’s completely nonsensical to continually spray disinfectant and say it’s clean – it is not true, as you just contaminate it again with pollutants.”

Reeves underlines that diseases are passed through the air, which was seen with the SARS crisis in 2003 and now with COVID-19. He continues: “This places greater importance on clean air, as we will likely see more diseases carried by air in the future. So TiTANO-Air and other elements of our solution can purify the air and remove the need for unnecessary contaminants in the air such as continuously applied disinfectants.

The main pillars of sustainability in The Open World Technology Group’s solutions (click to enlarge)

“They can help prevent diseases being passed on through the air and have many environmental benefits compared to existing materials currently used for cleaning in high traffic spaces, including onboard aircraft.”

Audeh also emphasises the environmental importance of the TOWTG sanitisation solution: “Everybody is currently talking about the carbon footprint, energy usage, toxins, clean air, and so on. What we are bringing into the table today is a solution which can help airports, for example, which are huge energy consumers and users of toxic cleaning chemicals.”

He adds: “Not only can our sanitisation system bring huge reductions in these carbon footprints, it will save serious amounts of money as well, much of which is simply being thrown away on ineffective, wasteful cleaning processes.”

One early customer of the TOWTG sanitisation solution is Radisson Hotels in Denmark, of which Reeves says: “They love the idea that our partners went in there, they spray the hotel with the TiTANO-Air product and they went around systematically removing every chemical from every cleaner’s cupboard.

“And they said that is such a great empowering feeling to get rid of all these chemicals and toxicity; they said it was quite freeing to just bag them and literally bin them.”

The sanitation solution is supported by digital reporting system Velvet (click to enlarge)

He adds: “We need to drop the use of detergents and chemicals as much as possible. If everyone’s going to play their part in fighting climate change, they must act now, and this is one big way of contributing to that goal.”

Complementing the development of its holistic sanitisation solution, TOWTG has recently formed a joint-venture business with Danish company Henco named Aquathesys. The JV delivers a technology-led process developed by Henco which turns water into an environmentally-friendly disinfectant. In addition, Aquathesys offers Henco’s system which enables a containerised unit to take humidity out of the air and turn it into drinking water.

Returning to the subject of TOWTG’s main sanitisation solution, Audeh underlines his belief that the system can help to dramatically reduce the spread of viruses. He insists that its widespread adoption could even have arrested the rate of spread of the Omnicron variant of COVID-19.

He concludes: “Our 360 degree solution will be such a great help for airports, duty free, airport lounges and other high-traffic environments. Today I am travelling through airports and I see fear in people’s eyes and wearing mask and gloves and other strange things that people think will protect them… we should not have this fear two years on [from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic].

Some of the key early customers of The Open World Technology Group, emphasising the appeal of its products and services (click to enlarge)

“Therefore it is the responsibility of governments and businesses to make our environment safer and solutions such as ours can help them give confidence back to the consumer. We are living in a world of new technology – our app and sensors could be accessed by all if needed to monitor the conditions of the spaces they are entering.

“Looking at what is happening in the world, it seems we still haven’t learned anything about tackling the root causes of the spread of infectious diseases. COVID is here to stay and will continue to mutate to different variants. We must look into science and technology as the cure, and adopt solutions such as the one that we are offering. The measures that are currently in place are simply not good enough and it is time to act now.”

More information: info@towtg.com/www.towtg.com

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