CHINA / SOCIETY
Airline denies man's claim of being refused to board a flight as COVID test was expired for 3 minutes
Published: Jun 16, 2022 11:10 AM Updated: Jun 16, 2022 11:07 AM
A passenger shows his health QR code before entering a subway station in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2022. Photo:Xinhua
A passenger shows his health QR code before entering a subway station in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2022. Photo:Xinhua


A man said he was refused to board a flight because his nucleic acid test had been expired for three minutes, which sparked hot discussion online. In response, the airline denied the accusation, claiming that the man and his companions' tests had been expired for dozens of hours, and that the airline rearranged their travel.

The traveler, bound to fly from Southwest China's Chengdu to North China's Taiyuan on Monday, uploaded a video of himself negotiating with the ground service personnel of China Eastern Airlines, after he was refused on board because his nucleic acid test had been expired for three minutes.

The airline required passengers to show 48-hour valid nucleic acid test before boarding.

"I was just three minutes short, so the regulation asks you to count minute by minute? Second by second?" the man was recorded as saying in the video.

The video soon got trending on Chinese social media Sina Weibo, which topped the search result on Thursday, with 180 million reads as of press time. Some advocated there should be more flexibility in adopting such regulations: "this is way too rigid, what if the flight delayed, how to count that way?"; "sometimes the result won't even come out in 48 hours." Others also said the passenger should calculate the time before traveling.

Later the China Eastern Airlines posted a notice on Sina Weibo, saying the man was with two companions, and all their test results were expired for at least 48 hours, and the test results of their tests on the day before departure were not out yet. When the newest test results finally came out, the cabin door was closed, so the airline rearranged their flight.

The airline's police stipulate that 48-hour valid test is necessary for boarding a flight, and that the calculation of time starts from when an individual takes the test until a passenger reaches intended destination.

Many airlines adopt the same policy, asking passengers to show a 48-hour valid test before boarding.

Global Times