Virgin Atlantic offers free global Covid-19 cover to passengers

Virgin Atlantic is the latest airline to promise to pay its passengers' Covid-19 medical expenses.

The airline announced it is offering free global Virgin Atlantic Covid-19 cover which will apply to all existing and new bookings, travelling until March 31 2021.

The insurance policy with Allianz Assistance offers comprehensive cover if a customer or travel companion becomes ill with Covid-19 while on a trip. The £500,000 (about R11m) cover includes medical expenses, quarantine costs and repatriation, if medically necessary. It also covers costs if a customer is denied boarding or held in quarantine.

Chief commercial officer at Virgin Atlantic Juha Jarvinen said the airline's priority was the health and safety of its people and customers.

“This industry-leading cover ensures customers can continue to fly safely with us,” said Jarvinen.

“Whether it’s to visit friends and relatives or take a well-deserved break, we believe this free cover will provide some added reassurance for our customers as they start to plan trips further afield. It applies in parallel to existing travel insurance policies which may now exclude Covid-19, and provides comprehensive cover for coronavirus, recognising the needs of our customers as we restart services.

How does the cover work?

The policy will apply automatically to all flights booked with Virgin Atlantic. Virgin Atlantic Holidays customers will also benefit, where the flights on their holiday booking are with Virgin Atlantic.

Provided the customer is travelling on a Virgin Atlantic ticket, if the flight is operated by a partner airline or a Joint Venture carrier — Delta Air Lines or Air France-KLM — the cover will also apply.

It also covers the passenger's whole trip, with no upper limit on the length of time away, with no restrictions on age, travel class, or length of the journey. There is also no excess payable with the policy.