No one wants to sit on board a plane next to a serial cougher, and you’ll find they’ll be on the receiving end of quite a few dirty looks.

That’s because many people believe that airplanes are guilty of recirculating germ-infected air, and no one wants to hop off the plane having caught that unpopular traveller’s ailments.

Here to bust the myth is Jalopnik, offering this explanation:

Basically, yes, planes do recycle about 50 percent of the air in the cabin, with the rest of the air coming in fresh from compressors in the engines.

What does get recycled doesn’t just get blown back into the cabin without running through a filter first, with most planes using High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters, which are the same filters used in hospitals.

The way the plane’s air flow works also means that you are not getting the same air sucked in from a different part of the cabin because it doesn’t cycle from the front to the back. Instead, it flows in from the ceiling and gets sucked back in for filtration through the walls.

Perhaps a little video explanation is more up your alley – hit it:

See, one less excuse for those of you who try and avoid air travel.

Oh, and in case you’re moaning about the price of a flight, take a look at THESE ridiculous offers for the month of November.

Woahvember, right?

[source:jalopnik]