By Taylor Rains
XpresCheck, JetBlue Offer Rapid-Tests at Boston Airport
On Monday, XpresSpa Group’s subsidiary XpresCheck announced a partnership with New York-based JetBlue Airways to build a COVID-19 testing site at Boston’s Logan International Airport, reported by GlobeNewswire. The “pop-up” facility will aim to give passengers a convenient place to get tested before or after travel. Currently, officials in Massachusetts require a negative PCR test within 72 hours of entering the state to avoid quarantine.
JetBlue’s coronavirus testing site will be located in Terminal C before security and offer both rapid and PCR tests. XpresCheck recommends passengers make a reservation before arriving at the airport, but it is not required. The facility is set to open in early January and will make it easier for passengers to receive required negative tests to enter Caribbean countries like Aruba, Grenada and Turks and Caicos.
XpresSpa CEO Doug Satzman said, “We are pleased to welcome JetBlue to our network of airline partners, beginning in Boston, as we develop future plans nationally. The JetBlue partnership will bring the convenience of on-site COVID-19 testing to passengers whether traveling to a destination that requires a negative COVID-19 test for entry or returning to Massachusetts and seeking to test out of the state mandated quarantine. The availability of trusted, verifiable health status information, including test results, will continue to help get people back to traveling in 2021.”
JetBlue President and COO Joanna Geraghty echoed Satzman, saying, “As Boston’s leading airline, we are committed to the safety of not only our customers and crewmembers, but also the communities we serve. By partnering with XpresCheck, a leader in in-airport testing, we are providing our customers traveling to and from the Boston area with innovative testing options. We appreciate our partners, including Massport, for working with us to bring this important service to our customers.”
JetBlue is not the only airline that has signed an agreement with XpresCheck to build airport testing facilities. On Thursday, the company announced a partnership with United Airlines to offer testing services at Newark Liberty International Airport and Denver International Airport for direct flights to Hawaii beginning Dec. 21. The test costs $200 and passengers will receive results within 15 minutes. For passengers traveling to Hawaii from Denver, the site is only available to ticketed customers and is located past the security checkpoint.
Doug Satzman commented on the agreement, saying, “We are very pleased to support United’s efforts to provide their customers with more testing options to meet their destination entry requirements with our easy rapid molecular testing protocol and convenient on-site testing facilities.” Our partnership with United Airlines will start with select flights to Hawaii in two major hub airports and expand to additional cities as our plans continue to develop.”
Passengers eight years and older who want a schedule an appointment can do so here. Most facilities are open Monday-Friday between 10 AM and 6 PM.
Taylor Rains graduated from Florida Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Aviation Management in 2017. She has worked in the aviation industry for the past five years and has a specialty in safety analytics for part 121 airlines, but she has also worked for a part 135 company in Alaska. Her experience has allowed her to work in many areas of aviation, including airport operations, flight operations, security, inflight, dispatch, and maintenance. Taylor is also an avid traveler and has used her flight benefits to fly on as many airlines and aircraft types as possible. So far, her favorite flight has been aboard KLM’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner.