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British Airways has announced that it will test passengers for COVID-19 in an attempt to show that the UK’s quarantine policy should be lifted.
Currently, due to coronavirus pandemic, some international travelers arriving in the country must self-isolate for 14 days.
the airline he says he hopes the data will show that a single test 72 hours before a flight is “robust” enough that it is not necessary.
Transatlantic flights are key to British Airways’ success
Chief Executive Officer Sean Doyle has said there have been “minimal reports” of broadcast on commercial flights and insists air travel is “safe.”
It also claims the UK is “being left behind” as countries like Germany adopt tests to replace quarantine measures.
Doyle says BA will test a voluntary testing regimen in partnership with American Airlines, which will involve hundreds of people on select routes from the US. Heathrow.
Passengers will be screened three days prior to departure, as well as upon arrival at West London Airport and three days after.
However, they will still need to follow existing quarantine rules, even if they receive negative results on all three tests.
Those who test positive for the virus will be able to reschedule their trip free of charge.
The pilot plan will involve selected routes from the US to Heathrow
The trial will begin on November 25 for flights from New York, Los Angeles and Dallas, with other airlines that could join the scheme in the coming weeks, and British Airways has said it will share the results of the project with the UK and US governments. United.
Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps launched a task force last month to develop methods to reduce the two-week self-isolation period with a “test-and-release regimen” that would still involve a self-isolation period of at least one week.
Doyle says that’s not enough to get air travel back to the levels it was in 2019.
“It’s not enough,” he said.
“Without a pre-flight testing regime, we will be trapped in a stop-start cycle in which consumers are unclear on the rules of the game and will not be in a position to travel with confidence.”
He added that recent “good news” about the potential vaccines for coronavirus “It shouldn’t get in our way of tackling the issues we have to tackle now.”
“We have testing availability in a way that doesn’t really take away the testing capacity of healthcare providers,” he said.
“We have facilities installed at Heathrow. So the solution is to look each other in the face. I just think we need policy clarity.”
Changes to the government’s list of destinations exempt from the quarantine requirement are generally announced only 35 hours before the new rules take effect.
Transatlantic flights are key to the success of British Airways.
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Before the pandemic, BA and American Airlines flew up to 111 flights a week from London to New York, but this has been reduced to just 14.
British Airways parent company IAG posted a pre-tax loss of € 6.2 billion (£ 5.6 billion) for the nine months to the end of September.
This compares with a pre-tax profit of 2.3 billion euros (£ 2.1 billion) over the same period a year ago.
