Published 15:49 IST, December 10th 2020
In a first, 'COVID-tested' flight lands in Rome from New York almost after a year
A ‘COVID-19 tested’ flight from New York landed in Rome on December 9, marking the first to travel transatlantic since restriction were imposed earlier in year.
- World News
- 2 min read
A ‘COVID-19 tested’ flight from New York landed in Rome on December 9, marking the first to travel transatlantic in almost a year. As per the regulations, all the 100 passengers were required to show a certificate of testing COVID-19 negative within 48 hours of boarding the Alitalia flight from John F Kennedy airport. They were required to undergo another test after landing at the Fiumicino airport in the Italian capital.
In March 2020, the Trump Administration had issued travel advisory restricting all flights from the US to Europe. In September, so-called “virus-free domestic flights” between Rome and financial capital Milan were launched. However, with the US-Italy flight, many Italians trapped the US returned to their families.
No contact with COVID-19 patients
All the 100 passengers, who travelled on the flight had come out negative. In addition, they were also required to certify that they didn’t have any contact with any person infected with the Coronavirus disease. Still, they were required to wear masks which were replaced every four hours. The Secretary-General of the International Chamber of Commerce, John WH Denton AO has welcomed the joint decision of Delta and Alitalia, to run safe and quarantine-free flights between Rome and Atlanta “backed by cross-border collaboration and testing.”
The largest airline operating in Italy, Alitalia stressed that it was responding to travellers, who were interested in replacing quarantine rules with testing when they were surveyed, in order to make travel more accessible .schengenvisainfo.com reported. It also stressed that the results of the airlines would be tested and if successful, it will be more widespread during the next summer season.
Updated 15:49 IST, December 10th 2020