British Airways, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic will require negative Covid-19 tests for all passengers traveling from London to New York per an agreement with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
British Airways' new rules began on Tuesday, with all passengers traveling from Heathrow to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport required to show certified test results taken within 72 hours of departure. That can include antigen tests currently available at Heathrow or rapid-result testing through BA's testing partner, Collinson.
For joint venture partners Delta and Virgin Atlantic, similar requirements will begin on Thursday. They also apply to Delta and Virgin Atlantic's flights from London to Atlanta.
The new requirements come as the United Kingdom has been seeing a growing list of restrictions on flights from the country after its government reported a new faster-spreading strain of the Covid-19 virus. In interviews with media outlets on Monday, Cuomo said he had worked out agreements with the three airlines but that he would rather see more sweeping federal restrictions.
"The people who now fly into New York will be negative, but we'll have flights into Chicago, we'll have flights into other parts of the country, and then those people can get on flights and come back to New York or infect other states," Cuomo said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "This whole notion that any one state can protect itself was foolish from the beginning."
United Airlines flies from London into Newark Liberty International Airport, which is in New Jersey and is outside of Cuomo's jurisdiction. A United spokesperson said the carrier is "ready to comply and support enforcement" if testing becomes mandatory for London flights.
American Airlines currently is not operating flights from London to New York. It is operating one daily flight between London and Dallas-Fort Worth, which a spokesperson said was not affected by the requirements and that the carrier does not "have any plans to mandate additional testing requirements at this time."