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First Covid-tested flight lands in Rome from New York

The first "Covid-tested" flight arrived in Rome from New York on Wednesday, an initiative designed to open up air routes between Europe and the United States blocked by the pandemic.

Published: 9 December 2020 14:29 CET

First Covid-tested flight lands in Rome from New York

Passengers just landed in Rome from New York on an Alitalia flight wait to undergo a rapid antigen swab test for Covid-19 on December 9th. AFP

Passengers had to show they had returned a negative virus test within 48 hours of getting on the Alitalia flight from John F. Kennedy airport, and were required to take another test on arrival at Rome's Fiumicino.

All 100 passengers on board came up negative, according to the AGI news agency, allowing them to avoid a 14-day quarantine required of other arrivals

from the United States.

READ ALSO: What are Italy's rules for Christmas travel?

Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

Among them was Chiara, an Italian living in the United States who is visiting her parents with her husband and seven-month-old son.

“It's been almost a year since we returned to Italy,” she told AFP.

“In April our son was born and so far no one from our family has met him. That's why we are so thrilled.”

Everyone on board still had to wear masks and replace them every four hours, according to airport authorities.

Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

“This is an extraordinary experiment, because it rekindles hope for air travel, mobility and the economy even in the presence of coronavirus,” said

Nicola Zingaretti, head of the Lazio region that includes Rome.

The move follows the launch in September of so-called virus-free domestic flights between Rome and financial capital Milan.

The introduction of these flights does not necessarily mean the rules on travel to Italy from the US are set to be changed, however.

Restrictions remain on non-essential travel to Italy from the US and many other non-EU countries.

READ ALSO: How Italy has just changed its travel rules for certain countries

Under tightened rules over the Christmas period, all arrivals from overseas between December 21st and January 6th will be required to quarantine for 14 days on arrival regardless of whether or not they are able to show a negative test result.

Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

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What to expect from Italy's national rail strike this weekend

Passengers travelling across Italy by train may face delays or cancellations this weekend as staff at state-owned railway operator Ferrovie dello Stato, which includes Trenitalia, Trenord, and Trenitalia Tper, and private company Italo plan to strike from 9pm on Saturday, May 4th to 9pm on Sunday, May 5th.

The walkout was called by CAT (Coordinamento Autorganizzato Trasporti) – one of Italy’s major trade unions – in late March to demand the renewal of collective labour agreements in the rail transport sector.

The planned protest is expected to affect all types of rail travel, from long-distance services to regional and local ones, with the overall level of disruption expected to vary by city and operator.

While rail companies are legally required to guarantee the operation of a number of minimum services (servizi minimi) during strikes taking place on weekdays, there’s no such requirement for weekend walkouts.

READ ALSO: The transport strikes that will hit travel in Italy in May 2024

This means that operators are free to decide whether or not to guarantee services for passengers.

Trenitalia

National rail operator Trenitalia said in a statement that their services “may experience changes or cancellations” for the entire length of the strike, but the protest may also “result in service variations both before its start and after its end”.

Though the statement provided no information regarding possible guaranteed services, Trenitalia generally operates a number of essential long-distance journeys during weekend walkouts. These are available here.

Trenitalia has advised passengers planning to travel with them during the weekend to check the status of their services via their website or mobile app, or by calling toll-free number 800 89 20 21.

Italo

Though initial news reports said that the walkout would not affect the services of private long-distance operator Italo, staff at the company are also expected to take part in the protest according to reports on Friday morning.

It was unclear at the time of writing exactly how the strike would impact Italo services, but delays and/or cancellations could not be ruled out.

Italo has said it will guarantee the operation of a number of long-distance services during the walkout. You can find those here.

Trenitalia Tper

Trenitalia Tper, which operates train services in the Emilia-Romagna region, has said that their services “may experience changes or cancellations” due to the walkout.

In the event of cancellations, passengers will be able to “ask for a refund according to the operator’s terms and conditions”.

Trenitalia Tper hasn’t yet provided any details regarding possible guaranteed services.

See their website for the latest updates.

Trenord

Trenord, which operates a number of regional trains in the Lombardy region, including connections to and from Milan’s Malpensa Airport, has said that scheduled services “may be subject to cancellations”.

However, the operator has also said that none of its staff are represented by trade union CAT and previous walkouts backed by the union didn’t affect scheduled services.

Trenord will not operate minimum services during the strike. However, should airport link services be cancelled, replacement buses will run the same routes.

See Trenord’s website or app for the latest updates.

What to do if your train is cancelled

If a pre-booked rail service is cancelled due to strike action in Italy, passengers are normally allowed to travel on other equivalent services instead or will be entitled to a refund.

Passengers travelling with Trenitalia will need to request a refund either at the station or by using this web form.

Keep up with the latest updates in The Local’s strike news section.

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