Delta Air Lines and partner Alitalia are now codesharing on COVID-tested flights, offering customers quarantine-free entry to Italy’s capital city from the U.S. Effective immediately, essential travelers can book to fly on Alitalia’s dedicated COVID-tested service from New York-JFK and Delta’s COVID-tested service from Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson International Airport to Rome’s Fiumicino Airport.
“Offering codeshares on our COVID-tested routes between two of the largest airport hubs in the U.S. and Italy is the latest in Delta and Alitalia’s longstanding partnership of delivering choice and convenience for our customers,” said Perry Cantarutti, Delta’s senior vice president Alliances and International. “These pilot programs are creating a blueprint for COVID-safe, quarantine-free travel that combines rigorous testing with extensive cleanliness and hygiene measures to help reopen international travel on a broader scale and restart the global economy.”
“By expanding the range of flights to and from Italy that include testing protocols, Alitalia demonstrates its commitment to deliver travel experiences in total safety. We were the first company to introduce COVID- tested flights, with the Rome-Milan route first, then with flights from New York and now from Atlanta, together with our partner Delta,” said Giancarlo Zeni, Alitalia Managing Director. “We want to help restore confidence to travelers, remembering that the plane remains the safest means of transport, even in this pandemic period. Our instruments and the filters we use inside the aircraft make the air quality comparable to that of a surgical room.”
To fly on Delta and Alitalia’s COVID-tested flights between New York-JFK and Atlanta and Rome, customers will need to test negative for COVID-19 both prior to departure and on arrival in Rome. Eligible customers permitted to travel for essential reasons, such as work, health and education, will be exempt from quarantine on arrival in Italy. Full details of the testing requirements can be found on delta.com.
Since Jan. 26, 2021, all customers over the age of two entering or transiting through the U.S. from any location outside of the U.S. must obtain a negative test result from a viral test taken within three days of departure. Delta is making it easier for customers to find testing centers through its online locator.
Both Delta and Alitalia have put multi-layered health measures in place to keep customers safe when they fly. These include, but are not limited to, increased sanitization of aircraft, requiring masks throughout the travel journey for customers and employees, and use of HEPA filters that refresh on-board air as often as every two minutes, removing 99.99 percent of particles, including viruses.
Rome Fiumicino airport handled by Aeroporti di Roma is the only airport in the world to have obtained the maximum five-star rating from Skytrax on its anti-COVID health protocols. Rome-Fiumicino Airport serves over 40 million passengers a year and has been rated Europe's Best Hub Airport for a third year in a row by Airports Council Internati
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Jason's many years within the media and aviation industries have seen him working for airlines, tour operators, travel agents, radio stations, magazines and media consultancy operations. He loves to travel, often more for the journey than arriving at the destination. Strolling along a beach at dusk, red wine, reading and cheesecake are some of his favourite things.