Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Prepared to Protect Health of Travelers, Staff and the Public

(Anchorage) – Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) has taken additional precautions to protect the health and welfare of travelers, airport staff and the public, from the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). ANC is coordinating its efforts with the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS).

Since the first of the year, six cargo flights from Wuhan, China have landed at ANC. These cargo flights were suspended indefinitely last week and no additional cargo flights are scheduled from Wuhan, China.

ANC has no scheduled passenger flights from Wuhan, China. This week, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are working to assist with the repatriation of U.S. citizens living in Wuhan City back to the United States. As part of this repatriation effort, approximately 240 U.S. citizens (including U.S. Consulate staff and families) are currently scheduled to fly from Wuhan back to the United States. The airplane is expected to make a refueling stop at ANC’s North Terminal. This terminal is currently not open to the public.

“The airport has facilities and procedures in place. Any flights suspected of carrying passengers with communicable diseases will be isolated. All international flights and flights suspected of carrying passengers with a communicable disease are processed in the North Terminal where CDC staff and quarantine facilities are located,” said Jim Szczesniak, Airport Manager. “No flights suspected of carrying passengers with a communicable disease are processed in our main domestic terminal. The North Terminal is completely isolated from the domestic terminal and closed to the public.”

Passengers traveling to or from ANC should feel safe continuing with their travel plans and should monitor the DHSS Human Coronavirus webpage. It should be noted, no cargo or passenger flights from Wuhan, China are transiting through ANC’s sister airport, Fairbanks International Airport.