American Airlines and British Airways will begin a Covid-19 testing program on select flights to London later this month, the carriers announced.
Beginning Nov. 25, eligible travelers on three flights—American's Flight 50 from Dallas-Fort Worth to London Heathrow, BA's Flight 114 from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to London Heathrow and BA's Flight 268 from Los Angeles to London Heathrow—will be given the option to participate in a free three-stage testing program. American's Flight 106 from JFK to Heathrow also will be part of the program, but the launch date has not yet been announced.
To be eligible, travelers must be at least 18 years old, have an itinerary originating in the United States and plan to stay in the United Kingdom for at least 72 hours, according to an American Airlines spokesperson. The carriers will contact eligible passengers on how they can enroll online, she said.
Passengers first will be given an at-home reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test provided by LetsGetChecked, which is also supplying testing for American's testing programs for travel to Hawaii, Belize, Grenada and St. Lucia. The test, in which travelers collect their own nasal sample while being supervised virtually by a medical professional, must be taken 72 hours prior to departure.
Upon arrival at Heathrow, passengers then will get a second test, provided by Collinson. Passengers then will be given another at-home testing kit, which they will administer three days after arrival.
As with a Newark-London testing program kicked off by United Airlines this week, the program will not exempt travelers from quarantine requirements, currently 14 days of self-isolation, upon arrival in London, but the carriers hope data from testing will confirm it as a safe alternative to quarantines. A task force including independent medical experts and representatives from Oneworld member airlines are overseeing the program, and they will share results with both the U.S. and U.K. governments.
"We know people want to travel, but our skies remain all but closed, and the U.K. is being left behind," according to BA chief executive Sean Doyle. "Major economies like Germany are adopting testing to replace quarantine. We need the U.K. government to introduce a system that allows travelers to take reliable, affordable tests before departure, so they are confident that fellow passengers are Covid-free."
Unlike United, which is requiring all passengers over the age of 2 on the flights in the testing program to either take the test or move to a different flight, American and BA are not requiring eligible passengers to participate, according to an American Airlines spokesperson. Passengers who test positive on the first test, naturally, will need to reschedule their travel.