United Airlines to offer rapid COVID-19 tests between New Jersey and London – Telemundo New York (47)

What you should know

• United Airlines announced that it will begin offering free rapid COVID-19 tests to passengers on some flights between Newark, New Jersey, and Heathrow, London airports, as part of a pilot program to eliminate quarantine periods when they arrive. to the final destination.
• In a statement, the airline said that people who do not want to be tested will be relocated to another flight to “ensure that passengers on board, except those under the age of two, have tested negative before takeoff.”
• The tests, which will be carried out by the company Premise Health, will be carried out from November 16 to December 11 on 12 flights that depart from Newark on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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NEW YORK – United Airlines announced that it will begin offering free rapid COVID-19 tests to passengers on select flights between Newark, New Jersey, and Heathrow, London airports, as part of a pilot program to eliminate periods of quarantine when they reach the final destination.

In a statement, the airline said that people who do not want to be tested will be relocated to another flight to “ensure that passengers on board, except those under two years of age, have tested negative before takeoff.”

“We believe that the ability to offer rapid COVID-19 testing on the same day of travel will play a vital role in a safe reopening around the world,” said Director of Customer Service Toby Enqyist.

United says it will share traveler comments with the governments of both countries to try to demonstrate the effectiveness of this program “as an alternative to mandatory quarantines or duplication of travel restrictions.”

The airline maintains that it has registered a positive impact on the demand for flights, as well as a significant impact on the number of customers and the sale of tickets when the option to carry out the test has been given.

The tests, which will be carried out by the Premise Health company, will be carried out on the flight departing from Newark, NJ, from November 16 to December 11 on 12 flights on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The tests will be requested in advance up to three hours before the flight and will take place in an airport lounge.

On October 15, United established a similar system on the domestic flight between San Francisco and Hawaii, but in this case, charging for testing.

The program allows travelers who have tested negative not to have to do the quarantines imposed by the authorities of the cities of their destination.

According to United, between October 15 and 25, flights of this type between San Francisco and Hawaii have seen a passenger increase of 95% compared to the previous two weeks.

Other US airlines have said they are considering starting to facilitate similar tests, while the European commercial aviation sector is increasingly demanding that preventive quarantines of travelers be replaced by COVID-19 tests.

Commercial aviation is in a critical situation due to the restrictions imposed to stop the expansion of the coronavirus and aggravated by the uncertainty of travelers, who when buying a ticket do not know if they will finally be able to fly to their destination or if the rules on quarantines will change One day to another.

For more information about these flights visit this page.

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