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IATA Wants Pre-Departure COVID-19 Testing Over Quarantine

Miles for Vouchers Coronavirus Linnaea Mallette Public Domain Pictures

As quarantines continue to close down entire nations from travel, one major trade group is calling for a rapid COVID-19 test for international flyers. The International Air Transportation Association says they are working with the UN’s civil aviation organization to implement a testing solution quickly, which would hopefully open up borders once more.

The International Air Transport Association is calling for the development of a “rapid, accurate, affordable, easy-to-operate, scalable and systematic” COVID-19 test, which could be offered to passengers on international flights prior to departure. In a press release, the trade organization says they will work with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to put together a test that can be deployed to airports and airlines.

IATA Sees Tests as Key to Reopening International Air Travel

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken an immeasurable human toll around the world. In an abundance of caution and preventing the spread of the virus, individual nations and trade blocs have closed borders or mandated a 14-day quarantine period for foreign visitors.

While arguably effective, the approach has also decimated the international aviation industry. According to IATA data, international travel is down 92 percent compared to 2019 levels. In their vision, the only way to reopen borders and allow free travel once more is to start offering rapid testing at the gate.

“The key to restoring the freedom of mobility across borders is systematic COVID-19 testing of all travelers before departure,” Alexandre de Juniac, director general and CEO of IATA, said in a press release. “This will give governments the confidence to open their borders without complicated risk models that see constant changes in the rules imposed on travel.”

Overall, IATA data suggests the public would support a testing scheme which would allow them to travel internationally. Their public opinion research suggests 84 percent of those polled agree that testing should be required of all travelers, while 88 percent say they would undergo testing as part of the travel process.

The idea has also been floated by airports and other stakeholders as a sustainable and safe way to reopen borders. London Heathrow Airport (LHR) worked with two partners to offer on-arrival testing appointments for inbound passengers, which would provide test results in hours instead of days and could end the need for a 14-day quarantine. However, the British government has not yet approved the plan.

Antigen Tests Could Create Problems for Aviation

One of the key reasons that testing isn’t more widely offered is because they primarily offer antigen tests, instead of the laboratory-dependent PCR tests. Reuters reports while they can produce results in as little as 15 minutes, they can also create “false negatives,” meaning flyers who carry the novel Coronavirus could still potentially board aircraft, creating a risk to other flyers and even the government.

Even though these tests are viewed as less reliable, Alitalia is going to use the test to offer what they call a “COVID-free” flight. On one flight between Rome and Milan, flyers will be required to present a certificate of health or take a rapid antigen test. If the plan is successful, the airline could expand the policy to other flights.

10 Comments
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fairhsa September 27, 2020

Human life is quantified every day in numerous decisions, from the cost of insurance to the decision to build a road. Anyone thinking otherwise is a fool. Recent article in the Guardian about using sniffer dogs to detect covid. They have a better sucess rate than the rapid antigen tests - and faster - and a lot more fun I think. These kinds of innovative approaches are the way to go. But some countries (I live in HK) will reject just because it's "not invented here" irrespective of science or evidence. What we need is global consensus. And since even regional consensus appears far away, hard to see how we get global.

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edgewood49 September 25, 2020

This then becomes a person decision do you trust those tests to be accurate on all passengers and crew on that particular flight? What happens when you transfer has everyone in that terminal taken a test that recent? It is riddled with possibilities that frankly I not sure I care for. I read an interesting article in Politico today in it a number of known experts in this field felt that the current virus pandemic will subside in two years, based on one of more effective vaccines, time passing allowing the vaccine to become wide spread and the virus infections to be brought under control. It was a great article and one that I feel is correct. At the end of the day is it that important to fly 8/10/12 or more hours in an aluminum can to Europe or Asia or any where for that matter? For me no but I am in a high risk cat. Anyway my opinion. Good work Joe !!

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PDog September 25, 2020

"The COVID-19 pandemic has taken an immeasurable human toll around the world." No, it has *not* been immeasurable. The numbers have been reported ad nauseum. They are readily available. A child can look them up. This sort of language usage is similar to saying "countless will die". In order to be "countless" one must assume we don't know the world population. We do. It's been *counted*. National populations, state populations, county populations, and village/town populations have all been counted and cataloged. The data are all measurable.

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BadgerProf September 25, 2020

If fletchbo wants to make the extreme claim that RT PCR tests have a >50% false positive rate s/he should cite a source. From the sources, I have read, this is simply a false claim as his/her claim that the virus "will fade away...."

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ConnieDee September 24, 2020

Still waiting for smell tests to become more widespread, and more data on anosmia. (There would be language problems, however.)