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Some German Lufthansa passengers will have to arrive two hours early in the future. Because the airline wants to check all passengers for the virus with a rapid Covid-19 antigen test before departure. If the passenger is ill, he must remain on the ground.
Lufthansa announced this in a press release. Consequently, passengers are required to take a free trial on select flights between Munich and Hamburg from 12 November. The exception: passengers can also bring their own healthy test results. However, the result should not be more than 48 hours old.
Switzerland is not there yet
Lufthansa’s Swiss subsidiary wants to do the same. We are already working on a similar experiment in Zurich and Geneva, Swiss spokesman Michael Stief tells BLICK. But there is still nothing concrete. “We are still in the development phase of possible pilot flights for a test from Switzerland and we cannot announce any details,” he says.
But there is great hope in rapid tests. “They offer great potential to reduce travel restrictions between individual countries,” says Stief.
Result after 30 to 60 minutes
At Lufthansa, the test is mandatory on selected flights. “Passengers who do not want to be screened will be booked on an alternative flight at no additional cost,” the message says. The result should be available in 30 to 60 minutes.
Only if the result is negative will the boarding pass be activated and access to the gate will be allowed. With this, the Swiss mother is taking an important step in terms of pandemic restriction. The goal is to routinely rule out corona disease in passengers.
First test flight in Germany
The first test flight with passengers who tested 100 percent negative will take off tomorrow Thursday morning from Munich to Hamburg. The second daily flight, on which all passengers are tested, returns from Hamburg to Munich on the same day.
Above all, the new measures are intended to achieve one thing: build more confidence to fly again. Here’s what board member Christina Foerster also says: “Successful testing of full flights may be the key to reviving international air traffic.”
