IndiGo partners with Stemz Healthcare to offer pre-flight Covid tests

IndiGo on Monday said it has partnered with Stemz Healthcare to offer passengers pre-flight COVID-19 tests in India and few other countries.

"Customers can opt for a home visit or choose a lab visit with over 200+ collection centres in India. The (testing) service is also available in other countries including UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia," IndiGo's press release said.

To book a test, passengers can take appointments online on IndiGo website through a co-branded URL page based on their travel date, the release noted.

Sanjay Kumar, Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer, IndiGo, said, "As per travel guidelines, several states and countries require a COVID-19 RT-PCR test to be undertaken within a stipulated time frame before a customer boards a flight."

Stemz Healthcare is the largest aggregator of ICMR approved laboratories for COVID-19 RT-PCR tests in India, the press release noted.

Scheduled international flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.

However, special international passenger flights have been operating in India under Vande Bharat Mission since May and under bilateral air bubble arrangements formed between India and other countries since July.

India started scheduled domestic passenger flights on May 25 after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus pandemic.