Japan Airlines Co. is offering a service to cover the expenses of its international passengers for their tests, treatment and quarantine if they have become infected with COVID-19 while overseas.

Travelers with tickets until June 30 are eligible to receive the service for free, if they had tested positive outside their country of residence and within 31 days from the departure date of their first flight, JAL said, becoming the first airline in Japan to launch such a program.

Photo taken at Haneda airport in Tokyo on Dec. 23, 2020, shows a sign promoting an insurance product recently introduced by Japan Airlines Co. to cover expenses paid by JAL passengers who have been infected with the new coronavirus during overseas travel. The insurance, developed jointly with major German insurer Allianz and offered to JAL international passengers free of charge, will cover up to about 19 million yen in coronavirus treatment. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Teaming up with Allianz Group, a major German insurance company, the service, "JAL Covid-19 Cover," can compensate passengers by up to 150,000 euros ($181,000) for treatment and up to 100 euros per day in accommodation fees during quarantine for a maximum of 14 days.

For now, the service, which is strictly not an insurance policy and began in late December, targets business people, with JAL hoping the measure could trickle down to others including tourists once travel restrictions are eased, according to its officials.

To receive such support, passengers must contact the airline via a 24-hour hotline before being tested.

JAL's subsidiary low-cost carrier Zipair Tokyo Inc. will also provide the service for flights between Narita airport, near Tokyo, and Honolulu until March 31.

Similar compensation programs are being offered by the Emirates Group in the United Arab Emirates and Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. in Britain.