Lufthansa Group launches integration of Covid-19 test certificates into digital travel chain

Prior to Lufthansa flights from Frankfurt to Istanbul, Turkey and from Newark, USA to Frankfurt and Munich, customers have the option of sending their Covid-19 test certificates and confirmations of digital entry applications to a specially set-up Lufthansa Group Health Entry Support Center via a contact form as early as 72 hours before departure starting Friday. SWISS customers will be able to use this service on the Newark, USA to Zurich, Switzerland route during March.

Passengers traveling on these flights will receive advance notification and a link to a portal where the relevant contact data and certificates can be stored. At the service center, the documents are checked. After the check, the customer receives a confirmation by e-mail, whether the certificates meet the entry requirements or a feedback if the documents are not sufficient. Regardless of this, the original certificates must continue to be carried on the trip.

This offers Lufthansa and SWISS customers even more planning security. Check-in and boarding are also even faster and smoother. With this new service, the Lufthansa Group is taking an important step toward integrating Covid-19 test results into the digital travel chain, making travel easier in times of pandemic. Depending on the findings of this initial offering, it is planned to enable test certificates to be sent for all flights. Digital health passports are also to be integrated into the travel chain in the future.

Furthermore, an obligation to wear a protective medical mask will apply on Lufthansa Group flights to and from Germany. Passengers are required to wear either a surgical mask or an FFP2 mask or mask with the KN95/N95 standard during boarding, the flight and when leaving the aircraft. Exemption from the obligation to wear a mouth-nose mask during the flight is only possible for medical reasons if the medical certificate is issued on a form provided by the Lufthansa Group and a negative Covid 19 test is available which is not older than 48 hours at the scheduled start of the journey.

In principle, infection on board is very unlikely. All Lufthansa Group aircraft are equipped with the highest quality air filters, which ensure an air quality similar to that in an operating theater; in addition, the air circulates vertically instead of being dispersed throughout the cabin.