Santo Domingo, RD.
The airlines are flexible with the date changes for passengers who test positive with their travel reservation in the tests against Covid-19, allowing them to postpone their departure date without being fined.
Caunter service personnel from Jet Blue Airways, American Airlines and United Airlines at Las Americas International Airport said they are flexible with passengers who are unable to travel on the scheduled date in their reservation for health reasons.
“Those passengers who have their airline tickets and reservation 72 hours before departure and the PCR or antigen tests have been done and they have been found positive for the virus, what we do is put them on a future date for their trip without imposing any fine for the change or delay of the trip, ”they emphasized.
An average of 300 daily PCR or antigen tests are performed by the clinical laboratory contracted by Dominican Airports XXI Aerodom, a subsidiary of the French international network VINCI AIRPORTS, to help travelers arriving at the terminal without the Covid test.
“American Airlines, we are not imposing any fines or penalties on travelers for changing the departure date of their trip because they have tested positive for Covid-19,” said a director of the North American airline.
On January 26, the United States government determined that all international travelers two years of age or older must pass a negative test for Covid-19 as a requirement to enter the territory. Days later, the same measure was adopted by the Spanish authorities.
At the start of the restrictive measures, many travelers were left without travel because they did not have the negative test document, however, over time that situation has already changed as people have become aware of the situation.
“Now those from the tests at the airport are no problem. Passengers have become aware that they have to come to the airport in advance to take their anticovid-19 test in order to get on board, ”said a JetBlue Airways director.
Passengers arrive
Likewise, Department of Health personnel continue to conduct rapid random breath tests, except for travelers entering the country through Las Américas International Airport.
A health staff on each of the flights randomly separates travelers who undergo the random Covid-19 breath test before entering the Dominican Republic.
In the hallway leading from the boarding point to the arrival migration area, there are tables with the Ministry of Health’s medical and laboratory personnel, where travelers are needed for the health screening.
In the event that one of the passengers tests positive for the virus, he will be transferred by health personnel to a specialized center in the area to receive special assistance and remain in quarantine.
However, many foreign travelers are aware that the test against Covid-19 in the country is required to allow their entry into the national territory, but they come with their document of their previously conducted test.
Despite the restrictions imposed on travelers at airports by national and international authorities due to the increase in Covid-19 cases, passenger flights to and from abroad are departing with a good average occupancy.