Hawaiian Airlines offering coronavirus testing to travelers
It's the second US airline to offer COVID-19 testing
New coronavirus tests are being developed every day. The Trump administration just ordered 150 million rapid antigen tests from Abbott Laboratories, but how do they stack up against other tests like the Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test? Top infectious disease doctors from Harvard and Johns Hopkins break down the differences between the two tests to determine which diagnostic tool might be better at curbing transmission rates.
Hawaiian Airlines is now providing coronavirus testing for its passengers.
The airline announced the new program on Friday, making it the second U.S. airline to offer COVID-19 testing for travelers.
Starting on Oct. 15, Hawaiian Airlines passengers heading to the Aloha State can get drive-through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, according to the FDA. Testing will take place at the airline’s labs near the Los Angeles and San Francisco international airports.
The FDA describes PCR tests as a type of molecular COVID test.
People who test negative within three days of departure won’t be required to follow Hawaii’s 14-day quarantine when they get there, the announcement said.
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Hawaiian Airlines is offering the Droplet Digital PCR shallow nasal swab tests in partnership with Worksite Labs. According to the announcement, those tests are a “gold standard” of coronavirus screening.
Passengers can pay $60 to get their results within 36 hours, or $150 to get “day-of-travel express service,” the announcement said.
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Though the airline is only offering testing near the Los Angeles and San Francisco airports when it begins the program in October, Hawaiian Airlines said it plans to expand to other airports “soon.” It also said it plans to partner with other labs to offer more testing.
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“As Hawaii's leading airline, it is critical to ensure that access to testing does not impede travel to Hawaii, for visitors or our kama‘āina (residents),” Avi Mannis, Hawaiian Airline’s senior vice president of marketing said in a statement.
Hawaiian Airlines is the second U.S. airline to offer coronavirus testing to passengers. (iStock)
“Our testing option will offer Los Angeles and Bay Area travelers superior value and we look forward to expanding the program and bringing additional choices to more of our gateway cities as we welcome guests back with our industry-leading Hawaiian hospitality while keeping our community safe,” Mannis added.
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United Airlines was the first U.S. airline to announce that it would be offering coronavirus rapid tests to passengers.
The airline’s program will begin on Oct. 15 and will be offered to passengers flying from San Francisco to Hawaii, FOX Business previously reported.
German airline Lufthansa also announced this week that it would be offering passengers rapid testing for COVID-19 starting in October.
However, the antigen tests will reportedly only be available for first-class and business-class passengers when the program begins because of limited supplies.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
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| HA | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |
| UAL | UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC. | 91.16 | +1.38 | +1.54% |