Italy to Carry Out COVID-Tested Flights From US to Milan
Travelers from the United States can now make trips to Italy’s Malpensa Airport without being required to follow quarantine rules.
The revival of such a decision has been permitted by Italy’s Ministry of Health, after confirming that the flights currently operating between the US and Rome have been conducted as planned, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
In order to visit Italy, passengers from the United States will be obliged to present a negative result of the COVID-19 test before boarding and take another test upon their arrival.
Italy’s Ministry of Health announced that it extended the scheme until the end of June 2021, with the possibility to continue it further, meaning that US travelers can fly from New York or Atlanta to Rome or Milan, quarantine-free.
However, only persons who have any essential reason, such as study, work, or returning to a permanent residence in Italy, can be eligible to fly from the US, as Italy’s travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be kept in place.
Delta could start offering the service between Milan and New York as soon as this weekend, according to reports, while American Airlines is expected to follow next month.
As the COVID-tested flights have been successful since they started to operate, the country’s government announced that it plans to extend the scheme to other states as well.
At present, internationals arriving in Italy from other countries within the EU or Schengen Area, except Austria, will present a negative result from 48 hours before travel.
The scheme is the first corridor to create such links between Europe and non-EU countries, who need to spend 14 in quarantine if they want to go to Italy.
In December last year, Italian airline Alitalia, one of the largest airlines in Italy, and the United States airline Delta Air Lines started to carry out quarantine-free flights from the United States to Italy.
After ensuring that this financial support is in line with the EU state aid rules, Alitalia previously received €73.02 million aid from the European Commission.
However, a recent upsurge in the number of Coronavirus infections has pushed Italian authorities to prolong their travel ban between its 20 regions until the end of this month.
Italy is the eighth-most infected country worldwide from the Coronavirus pandemic, with a total of 3,175,807 reported cases.
Over 101,560 persons have died from the virus in Italy, while 2,564,926 persons have been recovered up to this point.
