ROME - Alitalia and Airports of Rome have announced that, as of Tuesday December 8, all passengers traveling on one of the three weekly flights from and to New York must present a certification proving the negativity to Covid 19, carried out within 48 hours prior to the flight, or perform the antigen test directly at the airport before embarking. For those departing from the United States, upon arrival at Fiumicino they will be asked to perform a new antigen test; a double check that will exempt passengers from the quarantine obligation upon entry into Italy.
Also for these Covid-tested flights, passengers it will always be required to wear a protective surgical mask and to have a number of spare parts adequate for the duration of the trip, to replace them every 4 hours. In addition, before boarding, the completion of a self-certification certifying not to have had close contact with people affected by Covid-19 is required.
The initiative responds to the needs of passengers who, in a recent market survey, expressed a growing interest in adopting these measures with increasing flight hours. Furthermore, this experimental phase will aim to evaluate the effectiveness and functionality of the new travel mode, with the aim of making it more widely available in view of the upcoming Summer 2021 season.
The new travel protocol is governed by the ordinance of 23 November of the Italian Minister of Health, issued in agreement with the Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The government measure will be in force, unless extended, until February 15, 2021. The restrictions on entry into the United States provided for by the provisions of the American administration remain valid.
With this initiative Alitalia and Aeroporti di Roma extend the Covid-tested flight option, successfully launched last September 16, on two daily domestic flights Rome-Milan and confirm the commitment undertaken, from the earliest stages of the pandemic, to implement measures to prevent and protect the health of passengers and operators.
All Alitalia aircraft are sanitized daily with highly sanitizing products and, thanks to HEPA filters and vertical circulation, the air on board is renewed every three minutes and 99.7 pure, as in a sterile room, confirming that air travel remains the safest way to travel. In addition, the Leonardo da Vinci International Airport is at the forefront for high security standards achieved and is considered one of the safest airports in the world, so much so that it has obtained from Skytrax the maximum rating of 5 starts on anti-Covid health protocols, the ACI Airport Health Accreditation, and has just been chosen for the third consecutive year by ACI Europe as the best airport in Europe precisely because of the virus containment measures.