Air Canada announces flights to Italy, no need to quarantine on arrival

CTV National News: Stalling services Air Canada is the latest airline to reduce regional services across Canada due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vanessa Lee on the impact.

TORONTO — Air Canada will resume flights to Italy next month, under a government-approved system that will allow arriving passengers to bypass previous quarantine requirements, the airline said on its website.

The “COVID-tested” flights to Rome will begin July 2. Passengers will have to provide a proof of a negative COVD-19 test taken within 48 hours of departure and another after landing in Italy.

Passengers denied boarding due to a positive test will be given a refund or voucher valid for eighteen months.

“U.S. customers transiting through Canada to Italy on one of our direct flights to Rome can also benefit from this program,” the airline said.

According to Italy’s health ministry website, so-call “COVID-tested flights” have been specifically authorized.

Air Canada is the first Canadian carrier to offer the flights, although some U.S. carriers offer the flights on U.S.-Italy routes. Airlines anticipate a surge in travel demand as infection rates fall in countries with successful vaccination campaigns.

Air Canada suspended flights to Italy in March 2020, as Italy bore the brunt of the pandemic’s arrival in Europe.