Guide to Cleaning Airport Terminals

Air travel is back, making spotlessly clean airport terminals more important than ever. With pandemic-based disruptions and fears fading, 2024 looks to be a milestone year for global passenger traffic recovery. Experts predict 9.4 billion passengers will take to the skies, up 102.5% over 2019 levels.

But these passengers still expect the highest levels of clean. That presents a challenge for the facility managers of big, busy airports. This guide presents the best way to get clean airport floors and clean airport restrooms.

The Challenge of Clean Airport Floors

Airports are enormous. King Fahd International in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest airport, logs in at just under 300 square miles. America’s biggest airport, Denver International, is tiny by comparison, but 53 square miles is still breathtaking (particularly if you have to run for a flight).

Keeping all that square footage clean is a challenge. And people notice if the floor is a mess. Take the new Kansas City International Airport terminal for example. The scuff marks all over their brand new floor caused such ire that the even the mayor took time to call them “a great source of aggravation.”

Some facility managers are turning to advanced machinery to help clean airport floors. Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu just purchased an autonomous floor cleaning robot for the job. Once programed, the machine, also known as a co-bot, can scrub hard floors while workers do other tasks. But the $157,000 tool only cleans hard surfaces, meaning facility managers still need a commercial carpet cleaning machine for their soft floors.

Easier Way to Clean Airport Floors

There is better—and less expensive—tool for cleaning both hard surface and carpeted floors. The All Floor™ by Kaivac empowers one worker to service 25,000 square feet of floor per hour with just one machine.

With the All Floor a worker can:

• Move seamlessly from hard surface to commercial carpet cleaning
• Recover spills quickly, leaving surfaces dry and ready to use
• Spot clean carpet stains and vacuum away moisture
• Clean and refresh upholstery
• Remove scuffs with a scuff tool

Clean Airport Restrooms are Important Too

Spotless, fresh smelling restrooms are vital for a good airport experience. After all, everybody uses the restroom before and after a flight and nobody wants to be surprised by unpleasant, unsanitary messes.

But keeping those busy restrooms clean all day every day is hard. There is an average of 45,000 flights per day in the U.S. That is a lot of restroom trips and a lot of opportunity for cleaning workers to fall behind.

Facility operators are exploring new tools and methods to ensure clean airport restrooms including data analytics, survey feedback buttons, and Internet of Things technology. All of these tools supply great information about when to clean, but don’t really help in the actual cleaning.

Luckily there are tools for clean airport restrooms that go beyond buckets and mops. No-Touch Cleaning® systems from Kaivac make cleaning restrooms fast and easy without having to get close to or touch disgusting messes. Workers spray surfaces with cleaning solution, rinse the solution and soils to the floor, and then vacuum the floor dry.

The process removes dirt and germs from the environment and is much faster than using mops, buckets, and rags. Plus, workers never have to bend, twist, or kneel on dirty restroom floors.

Clean airport floors and clean airport restrooms make travel that much more enjoyable. Look to Kaivac for tools and techniques that make the job easier.