Every passenger on Lufthansa¡¯s LH2058 flight which took off this morning at 0910 from Munich to Hamburg has tested negative for Covid-19, the airline has announced. The flight between the two German cities was the first in a trial?where passengers are offered free pre-departure Covid tests by the airline.

All passengers on two daily flights between the two cities must take a rapid antigen test or provide evidence of a negative PCR test taken less than 48 hours prior to departure. Anyone not wishing to do so can transfer to another flight.?

Testing is carried out in partnership with biotech companies Centogene and the Medicover Group's medical care centre, MVZ Martinsried. Passengers are informed shortly after the test of their result by push message and email.

All guests on the return flight, LH2059, from Hamburg to Munich, also tested negative.

Ola Hansson, CEO Lufthansa hub Munich, said: "We want to again expand the worldwide travel options for our customers while maintaining the highest hygiene and safety standards. Successful testing of entire flights can be an important key to this. With the test flights we have successfully launched today, we are gaining important knowledge and experience in handling rapid tests".

Jost Lammers, CEO of Flughafen M¨¹nchen GmbH, added: "The trial run with the rapid antigen tests on selected Lufthansa flights is a positive and important signal for the industry. In addition to the extensive hygiene measures that airports and airlines already have in place for passengers, these tests offer an additional level of safety. This could mean that in future - if the appropriate international agreements are reached - cross-border travel without the obligatory quarantine obligation could once again be possible".

AN IATA expert said this week that pre-departure testing could lead to 100 million false positives?without further innovation.