• • Aluminum salt coagulation outperformed PEG precipitation and centrifugal ultrafiltration, achieving an average recovery of 25.95% for SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus, significantly higher than 12.91% and 0.22% (P<0.05), with a detection limit of 10 copies·mL⁻¹, enabling reliable detection in high-turbidity flight wastewater.
• • Optimization of the aluminum salt method (pH 6.00±0.4, rapid magnetic stirring, 1-min mixing) maintained recovery (27.56% vs. 25.95%, P>0.05) while improving operational efficiency, addressing the high pH buffering and organic load of flight wastewater.
• • Automation reduced per-sample processing time from 115 min to 60 min (48% reduction) and improved repeatability, with no significant difference in recovery compared to manual operation (P>0.05), enhancing throughput and biosafety for routine surveillance.
• • Field validation over 17 months (1,309 samples) yielded an average SARS-CoV-2 detection rate of 45.45%, with temporal trends matching national epidemic data, confirming the method's utility for early warning of imported cases at border ports.