Bedbugs’ ability to hide in clothes and soft fabrics means that they make excellent travellers. Photo / Getty Images
Bedbugs’ ability to hide in clothes and soft fabrics means that they make excellent travellers. Photo / Getty Images
The tiny pests have a reputation for ruining holidays and hotel stays - but rarely do bedbugs follow travellers to the airport.
Honolulu Airport is currently undergoing a month-long deep clean to eradicate the blood-sucking insects.
Last week the Daniel K Inouye International Airport was forced to close parts of Terminal 2 after reports of the insects around the international departures gates.
The Department of Transport suspended flights from gates 5, 6 and 7 while the seating area was given a deep clean and items thought to have attracted the insects were removed.
While some of the gates were back in operation by this weekend, the airport was taking no chances. There is now a month-long cleaning regime to rid the terminals of the biting bugs.
“Additional deep cleaning will take place per recommendations over the next three weeks to prevent a recurrence,” Ed Sniffen, the Hawaiian DOT director, told local media.
Despite the inconvenience and potentially some nasty bites, the airport said that no flights were impacted. The 73,000 inbound passengers per day were able to be accommodated through other parts of the terminal.
Southwest Airlines, which operates out of these gates, were the first to report the bedbug problem to authorities. The airline told USA Today that its daily operations already include cleaning leased spaces and ground operations; it will not be changing its cleaning protocols for flights.
Hawaii's Daniel K Inouye International Airport is undergoing a three-week bedbug clean after reports of an infestation. Photo / Keith H, Creative Commons
Bedbugs on planes
The tiny travelling parasites are difficult to spot and even harder to remove.
Bedbugs’ ability to hide in clothes and soft fabrics means that they make excellent travellers.
Previously there have been incidents of bedbugs infecting the carpets and upholstery of passenger planes. In 2017 British Airways apologised to passengers who were bitten by the insects on an overnight flight from Vancouver to London.
According to the BBC, the passenger and daughter were unable to change seats after complaining to the crew, because the flight was full.
It’s not only passengers but staff who have had to deal with infestations.
In 2015 American Airlines Boeing 777 and 787 fleet experienced outbreaks in the crew rest areas.
The airline told the crew in a leaked memo it was trying to “determine what is causing a skin reaction that some crewmembers have experienced after using the crew bunks on some of our 777 and 787 aircraft”.
The planes were eventually taken out of circulation and fumigated to eradicate the blood-sucking insects.
Despite their outsized bite and impact on travel, the insects infect only a very small number of aircraft. Airlines say that infestations on planes are “extremely rare”.
