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Alaska Airlines offering passengers to Hawaii discounted rapid COVID-19 tests

ASSOCIATED PRESS / FEB. 5, 2019
                                Starting Oct. 15, Alaska Airlines plans to operate two daily flights from Seattle to each of the four main Hawaiian islands that the airline serves—Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii island. Here, Alaska Airlines planes are parked at a gate area at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle in 2019.

ASSOCIATED PRESS / FEB. 5, 2019

Starting Oct. 15, Alaska Airlines plans to operate two daily flights from Seattle to each of the four main Hawaiian islands that the airline serves—Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii island. Here, Alaska Airlines planes are parked at a gate area at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle in 2019.

Alaska Airlines announced today that it is partnering with health-care provider, Carbon Health, to offer rapid COVID-19 testing in its pop-up clinics across the West Coast.

The carrier’s rapid-testing program starts Oct. 12 in Seattle.

Starting Oct. 15, Alaska plans to operate two daily flights from Seattle, its largest hub, to each of the four main Hawaiian islands that the airline serves—Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii island (Kona)— for a total of eight daily round-trip flights.

“Our guests have been eager to return to the Hawaiian islands and we’re excited to be adding more ways to safely get them there,” Sangita Woerner, Alaska’s senior vice president of marketing and guest experience, said in a statement. “By assisting our guests with convenient testing options as they prepare for their trip, we’re working together to help keep each other, and Hawaii, safe.”

Alaska’s passengers will be able to make an appointment starting Oct. 8 with Carbon Health, carbonhealth.com, which is in downtown Seattle at 220 6th Ave. North. Priority testing for Alaska flyers will be available Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. PDT, starting on Oct. 12.

Alaska flyers will pay a discounted rate of $135 for Carbon Health’s Abbott ID NOW rapid tests, which will be ready in two hours. The tests will be available to all Alaska passengers over three months old.

To better serve customers during the pandemic, Alaska also implemented nearly 100 new safety measures. It’s also extended physical distancing on board by limiting the number of guests and blocking middle seats through Nov. 30. The carrier’s flexible travel policy for all new ticket purchases will run through Dec. 31, 2020.

Alaska plans to resume nonstop service to Hawaii on Nov. 1 from Portland, Ore.; San Jose, Calif.; and San Diego; and on Nov. 20 from Anchorage, Alaska, and Los Angeles.

Carbon Health is planning additional pop-up and full-service clinics for rapid COVID-19 testing in other cities as Alaska rebuilds its flying network in the coming weeks.

The carrier also is working closely with the Port of Seattle to secure future on-site testing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

“We appreciate Alaska’s shared commitment in providing new health services to customers at SEA,” Lance Lyttle, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s managing director, said in a statement. “We all recognize that there is no one path forward for defeating COVID-19 and no one solution that will work for every travel situation. To help broaden the options for travelers, we will continue to explore the feasibility of partnering with a health vendor to provide rapid testing at the airport. Multiple measures and new partnerships like these are essential to achieving a safe and full reopening of our economy.”

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