ROME, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome will start the operation of "COVID-tested" flights from three U.S. airports on a trial basis, Aeroporti di Roma (ADR), the airport's operator said Thursday.

Starting in December, passengers on COVID-tested flights coming from New York, Newark or Atlanta airports will not have to quarantine, if they test negative for COVID-19 within 48 hours of departure and upon arrival at the airport, according to an ADR statement.

Such flights are also expected to be launched between the airport and German cities of Munich and Frankfurt with the aim of ensuring "the new travel procedure could be tested within the European Union," said the statement.

After assessing the effectiveness of the COVID-tested flights in inhibiting the movement of infected people, the service is expected to be widely available in the summer of 2021, the statement added.

"The experiment ... will take advantage of the experience already successfully gained on the COVID-tested Rome-Milan flights in operation since Sept. 16, 2020," said ADR.

The trial of COVID-tested flights comes as both Italy and the United States are still grappling with the coronavirus, with Italy's national caseload surpassing 1.5 million and that of the United States nearing 13 million.