Delta, KLM COVID-19 testing program lets Americans fly without quarantine

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Another foreign destination has opened to American travelers with no quarantine necessary thanks to a COVID-19 testing program.

Delta Air Lines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have partnered on the new program for flights between Atlanta and Amsterdam starting Dec. 15. Passengers who fly on the COVID-19-free flights will be able to skip the normal 10-day quarantine period they’d be subject to in the Netherlands.

Participating travelers will undergo a total of three COVID-19 tests, and anyone who tests positive for the coronavirus won’t be allowed onto the flights. Passengers will first need to take a Polymerase Chain Reaction test five days before arriving in Amsterdam. They will then take a rapid antigen test at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and then one final PCR test when arriving at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

Passengers who fly on the COVID-free flights will be able to skip the normal 10-day quarantine period they’d be subject to in the Netherlands. (iStock)

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There will be four COVID-tested flights per week between Atlanta and Amsterdam, two operated by Delta and two by KLM. Passengers will need to choose the flights with testing when booking their travel as not all Atlanta-Amsterdam flights will be included in the program.

The flights will run for three weeks and then it might be expanded to other airports if the program is successful.

Steve Sear, Delta’s president of international and executive vice president of global sales, said the airline is working to create “COVID-free travel corridors” to provide its customers and health officials with more confidence for safe travel.

There will be four COVID-tested flights per week between Atlanta and Amsterdam, two operated by Delta and two by KLM. (iStock)

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“Delta has worked with our partners and health authorities to reopen the skies safely and resume international air travel until a vaccine is in place removing the requirement of quarantine,” Sear said in a press release.

Still, it may be too early to start planning a Christmas vacation in Amsterdam. The program is only open to those traveling to the Netherlands for “essential” reasons like work, education and health.

Delta Air Lines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have partnered on the new program.
(iStock)

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Pieter Elbers, president and CEO of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, said in a press release that the program “is a very important and great step forward.”

“Until an approved working vaccine is available worldwide, this testing program represents the first step towards the international travel industry’s recovery,” Elbers said.

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