Air Canada offering COVID-19 medical and quarantine insurance to international travellers

By Alex Bloomfield

Canada’s largest airline is now offering complimentary COVID-19 medical and quarantine insurance in an effort to encourage more Canadians to travel abroad.

Air Canada announced the limited-time offer on Thursday morning.

It covers all round-trip international flights booked by Canadian residents between September 17th and October 31st, 2020.

The trips must be completed before April 12th, 2021.

The plan provides the following coverage to customers who test positive for COVID-19 while abroad.

  • Up to CDN $200,000 per insured for COVID-19 treatment medical expenses.
  • Up to CDN $150 per person per day for quarantine costs (meals + accommodation); Up to CDN $300 per family per day up to a maximum of 14 days.
  • Up to CDN $500 for expenses related to return home if the advisory from the Canadian government goes from Level 3 to Level 4 while at destination.

The plan is underwritten by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (Manulife).

The airline industry has been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic.

Airline capacity fell by about 90 per cent at the onset of the pandemic in March, as governments issued stay-home-advisories and closed borders.

In June, Air Canada ended service on 30 domestic routes and pulled out of eight regional airports after laying off 20,000 workers and posting a $1-billion quarterly loss.

The airline has not confirmed the next date it will be report earnings but its expected to come in early November.

As of midday Thursday, the stock was down 60% year to date.

Air Canada has already been forced to cancel 358 flights from its September schedule, and has been unsuccessfully lobbying the federal government to relax the mandatory two-week quarantine law.

 

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