United Airlines Will Kick-off Free COVID-19 Testing on Select Routes Next Month

In a move to help guarantee the safety of all passengers onboard, and inspire some consumer confidence in air travel, United Airlines will kick-off a four week trail of free COVID-19 testing next month.

United on Thursday announced that it would start a four-week trial of free COVD-19 testing for passengers traveling between Newark Liberty International Airport and London Heathrow Airport. The test will be given to passengers specifically traveling on United Flight 14, which departs 7:15 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from Newark.

All testing will be done at the Newark United Club near Gate C93 at the airport.

The testing won’t relax any U.K.-quarantine requirements—the U.K. has a 14-day mandatory quarantine in place for all inbound passengers—but the hope is that it will demonstrate United’s, and the air travel industry in general, ability to safely bring its passengers across borders without COVID-19 worries in mind.

“We believe the ability to provide fast, same-day COVID-19 testing will play a vital role in safely reopening travel around the world and navigating quarantines and travel restrictions, particularly to key destinations like London,” Toby Enqvist, United’s CCO, said in a statement.

There are some requirements for the tests. The first is that passengers have to arrive at least three hours before the 7:15 p.m. flights in order to allow enough time to take the tests and get results back (United is using the Abbott ID Now test, which is supposed to produce a result in 20 minutes or so) and must make an appointment beforehand. The second is that passengers are required to test negative for the virus (anyone testing positive will be isolated and either refunded or rebooked).

Testing has been one of the critical talking points during discussions over the travel industry’s restart.

Earlier this week, the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) and other industry groups called on the Trump administration to pursue a COVID-19 testing plan that would obviate the need for quarantines and travel bans in order to safely re-open travel. The groups, in a statement, said that as quarantines and other travel restrictions “discourages travel,” testing could be implemented instead.

Testing is also a key component of the plan behind the restart for the cruise industry—those who have restarted in Europe, including MSC Cruises, have done so successfully with pre-cruise testing in place and CLIA, and the North American cruise industry as a whole, has also made pre-sailing testing a key component of its restart plan.

And the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation also announced they are in the early stages of developing so-called “safe travel corridors” between the U.S. and certain international destinations, thanks to the growing availability of COVID-19 tests in the U.S. That plan centers on a potential reopening of travel between New York and London as early as the winter holidays.