US scraps inbound COVID-19 testing requirements

The US is scrapping its requirement for inbound international air travelers to take a COVID-19 test within a day before boarding their flight. The mandate will expire Sunday at 12:01 a.m. EDT. Airlines for America (A4A) President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio said: "We are pleased that the pre-departure testing requirement has been eliminated for international air travelers who are eager to visit or return home to the United States. "The airline industry appreciates the Administration’s decision to lift the pre-departure testing requirement in accordance with the current epidemiological environment. "Lifting this policy will help encourage and restore air travel to the United States, benefiting communities across the country that rely heavily on travel and tourism to support their local economies. We are eager to welcome the millions of travelers who are ready to come to the U.S. for vacation, business and reunions with loved ones. "We look forward to continuing to work with the Administration to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of the traveling public and to ensure that air travel policies are guided by science." While US domestic travel has returned to almost pre-pandemic levels, international travel has lagged. SEE the podcast: Flight Safety Detectives dissect the Netflix doco “Downfall”. READ: Boeing will bounce back says world’s largest leasing company READ: Ukraine’s President wants to build another AN-225 About AirlineRatings.com Airlineratings.com was developed to provide everyone in the world a one-stop shop for everything related to airlines, formed by a team of aviation editors, who have forensically researched nearly every airline in the world. Our rating system is rated from one to seven stars on safety – with seven being the highest ranking. Within each airline, you will find the country of origin, airline code, booking URL and seat map information. The rating system takes into account a number of different factors related to audits from aviation’s governing bodies, lead associations, as well as the airlines, own safety data. Every airline has a safety rating breakdown so you can see exactly how they rate. Over 230 of the airlines on the site that carry 99 per cent of the world’s passengers have a product rating. Given that low-cost, regional and full-service carriers are so different we have constructed a different rating system for each which can be found within each airline.