Quarantine requirements for passengers on Delta Air Lines flights from Atlanta to Rome are to be eliminated through the use of enhanced testing for Covid-19. Delta says the pilot scheme will see departing passengers complete a molecular or antigenic test up to 72 hours before departure, a rapid antigen test at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport and a further antigen test upon arrival at Rome Fiumicino. A rapid test would also be required in Rome before departure back to the US. The first flights as part of the scheme are scheduled to take place in December, with Aeroporti di Roma noting that the programme could also include New York's JFK and Newark airports. The pilot builds on experience gained from Covid-tested services between Rome and Milan that have been in operation since 16 September, as well as the existing rapid-testing facilities at Fiumicino. Since mid-August there has been a rapid-testing facility in the arrivals section of Terminal 3, with results available in less than 30 minutes, as well as a drive through testing facility at the airport's car park. "Carefully designed Covid-19 testing protocols are the best path for resuming international travel safely and without quarantine until vaccinations are widely in place," states Delta executive vice-president Steve Sear. The carrier highlights that based on research from expert advisors at the Mayo clinic, the chance of contracting Covid-19 on a flight that is 60% full is roughly one in a million.

Embraer has issued a service bulletin allowing operators of its 50-seat ERJ-145 regional jet to install high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, with the first kits to be delivered by next month. The Brazilian airframer, which took five and a half months to develop the kit, adds that it is completing work for HEPA filter kits for the ERJ-140 and ERJ-135 “very soon”. It adds: “The kits for the first 70 aircraft are already being assembled and should be delivered by mid-December.” “Given the moment we are living, developing a HEPA filter service bulletin for the ERJ-145 is a must-have solution Embraer developed for making cabin conditions even safer for passengers,” says Johann Bordais, president and chief executive, Embraer Services & Support. HEPA filters have been in the spotlight recently amid the global coronavirus pandemic, as airframers and airlines tout their ability to trap most bacteria, viruses and fungi. HEPA filters are already a standard feature on Embraer’s later generation of aircraft, such as the E-jet family, and on Embraer Executive Jets.

IATA is confident network connectivity will not be impacted by the UK’s impending departure from the EU at the end of the year. Talks continue between officials over a possible Brexit deal, which would come into effect after the current transition agreement ends in December. But IATA’s regional vice-president Europe Rafael Schvartzman said during a briefing today that he expects connectivity to be maintained even if a Brexit deal is not reached. ”We see positive trends on an agreement on Brexit,” he says. ”In principle we are not seeing a situation where connectivity will be lost, so at this stage we are looking to maintain connectivity with a Brexit deal. “But if not, even before in the previous scenario, there were some already pre-agreed measures to be taken that will maintain connectivity. So we trust that remains an option.” He notes this contingency would extend the current conditions for a further period. “So that could be the fall-back if there is no agreement,” he says. “The other option if there is not agreement is we go back to the old bilaterals, which would be a very dramatic situation that we are not expecting to see. But that that would be the worst-case scenario.” Schvartzman adds: ”But we do believe today we are… looking forward potentially to an agreement. And if there is no agreement, for these temporary measures to kick to maintain connectivity in Europe.”