Heathrow launches one-hour coronavirus tests so travellers can avoid quarantine
Passengers flying out of Heathrow can be tested for coronavirus and know their results within an hour from today.
The £80 tests are initially on offer to people travelling to Hong Kong and Italy – which both require a negative Covid-19 test result before entry into the country – from terminals 2 and 5. But Heathrow plans to expand the scheme in the coming, amid growing pressure to find alternatives to two week quarantine periods.
LAMP testing is currently available at the London airport and will expand to antigen testing – both of which allow results to be processed without needing to be sent to a laboratory, unlike PCR tests.
Aviation services company Collinson and logistics firm Swissport branded the testing regime as the ‘crucial next step toward keeping the travel industry moving while limiting the spread of the virus’.
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Passengers interested in taking a test are required to book online before arriving at the airport. The facilities will initially be open for four weeks.
It follows the launch of Collinson and Swissport’s test-on-arrival facility at Heathrow in August, which is still sitting empty as it has yet to gain Government approval for use.
The airport’s chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: ‘These facilities will make it easier for passengers going to those countries to get a test and have the potential to provide a service for arriving passengers.
‘Ultimately, we need a common international standard for pre-departure testing, and we welcome the UK Government’s recent announcement that it wants to take a global lead in establishing this.
‘We will work with them to make this happen as soon as possible, so that we protect livelihoods as well as lives.’
Earlier this month, the Government unveiled a task force to develop a coronavirus testing system as a potential way of easing quarantine restrictions for arriving passengers.
David Evans, joint chief executive officer at Collinson, said: ‘With countries around the world adding the UK to their list of high-risk countries, we need to find a way to work with governments, leading travel brands and other commercial entities to safely open up travel out of the UK.’
Cathay Pacific, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airlines all fly routes that now require pre-departure tests.
Virgin’s chief executive Shai Weiss said: ‘As long as the 14-day quarantine remains in place, demand for travel will not return and the UK’s economic recovery, which relies on free-flowing trade and tourism, cannot take off.
‘Half a million UK jobs depend on open skies and a fully functioning UK aviation industry.
‘The Government’s global travel task force must act swiftly to replace quarantine with passenger testing in November.’
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