[ad_1]
Lufthansa chief Carsten Spohr expects governments to give the green light to planned corona rapid tests on flights between Germany and North America in the coming weeks.
Testing is key to reopening numerous routes, the CEO of parent company AUA told a virtual air traffic conference on Friday. Without these tests, the transatlantic traffic will not gain momentum.
With Corona’s rapid tests immediately prior to departure, more air travel on intercontinental routes should be possible. Negative test results should exempt passengers from applicable entry bans.
Spohr announced the first flights under these conditions this year, and a test-based connecting network is expected to be ready by the second quarter of 2021. Negotiations with the US and Canadian governments concern entry requirements .
According to a company spokesperson, Spohr also confirmed the scale of the upcoming job cuts. Lufthansa announced on Monday that it would permanently shut down another 50 of the 100 aircraft already mentioned. That could mean the removal of around 5,000 more jobs, in addition to the 22,000 already mentioned.
Lufthansa probably does not want to carry out the tests with its own personnel. The company has already relied on Centogene’s services for voluntary testing at Frankfurt airport. It is also possible to pass the costs on to the passengers.
