Heathrow Airport to offer passengers rapid Covid-19 test for €88

Passengers at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5.

London Heathrow airport will offer rapid Covid-19 tests to departing passengers as more countries require travelers to provide a clean analysis as a condition for entry.

The Oxford Lamp rapid Covid-19 tests will cost £80 (€88.25) and can be used for travel to the increasing roster of countries such as Hong Kong and Italy that are conditioning entry on a negative Covid-19 result, according to a statement from Collinson, which set up the facility at Heathrow. Results will be available in as little as 60 minutes. Other countries including Cyprus and the Bahamas mandate a Rt-Pcr test, which takes longer and isn’t offered at Heathrow.

Airlines and airport operators have been asking for travel restrictions to be eased and replaced with a testing regime that would open up more destinations and give passengers increased certainty about flying. Some countries are adopting this approach, although the specific measures vary.

Pre-departure rapid testing facility launches at #Heathrow Terminals 2 and 5, enabling passengers to receive #COVID19 results in 60 minutes.https://t.co/rBR8csW6Bj pic.twitter.com/WM4ecMHpAE

— HeathrowNews (@HeathrowNews) October 20, 2020

The UK has set up a task force to consider using tests to halve its two-week quarantine period for incoming air passengers, although airlines have said even that is too long.

Singapore and Hong Kong agreed last week to open their borders to one another for the first time in almost seven months, with testing mandatory for travelers. Details of the programme, which is expected to start within weeks, haven’t yet been publicly laid out.

Italy is expanding a virus-testing trial started at Rome’s Fiumicino airport in September. Airports in Paris and Nice will begin deploying rapid Covid-19 tests for passengers heading to the US, Italy, and French overseas territories by the end of this month, French Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said. 

UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said this week the UK was considering a test regime that could be in place by December.  It would allow travelers to take a test a week after arriving in the country to obtain an early end to the two-week quarantine. 

The UK government is also discussing setting up a trial programme involving pre-isolation and testing with several countries, including the US, he said without giving a date.

Sean Doyle, British Airways’ new chief executive officer, said this week that a seven-day quarantine won’t work. He said he’s heard little from the US or U.K. on the proposed pilot programme for virus testing on London-New York services.

Please see below updates to the UK travel corridor list.

As a reminder, all passengers are required to complete the UK Government’s online passenger locator form 48 hours before travelling. Click here to fill out the form https://t.co/hOymdEhLEu https://t.co/H8zNNLQ4ej

— Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) October 16, 2020

“We aren’t getting any support or action and we’re not hearing from governments what they’re thinking,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific Airways will cut 6,000 jobs and close its Cathay Dragon brand, the South China Morning Post reported, as part of a strategic review to combat the deep damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Hong Kong-based airline initially planned about 8,000 layoffs globally, but after government intervention reduced that to 18% of its total workforce, including some 5,000 jobs in Hong Kong, according to the report. 

Bloomberg