‘Airport testing is the lifeline that the travel industry needs’ – Heathrow CEO
Testing is a 'vital' alternative to quarantine rules, say bosses at Heathrow, Gatwick and Southend airports – as Telegraph Travel commences Test4Travel campaign
As Telegraph Travel launches its campaign for low-cost, effective Covid-19 screening at airports and ports by Christmas, the UK’s leading airports have voiced their support for testing as a “vital” alternative to quarantine measures.
Speaking to Telegraph Travel, John Kaye Holland, Heathrow Chief Executive, hailed airport testing as “the lifeline that the UK’s aviation sector needs to get back on its feet,” adding that the airport has already constructed a testing facility that is “ready to go”.
Gatwick, too, is calling for the Government to back airport testing – saying such a plan is “necessary” until a vaccine programme is developed and implemented. “In the absence of a vaccine, some kind of UK testing regime is necessary to restore passenger confidence in travelling abroad – and for people wanting to visit the UK,” a Gatwick spokesperson told Telegraph Travel.
“We are in ongoing talks with Government about this, as we need their support for this kind of approach. Any testing needs to be low cost, reliable and quick. If we can get this in place it will release the need for quarantine to many destinations.
“Government support is vital.”
Glyn Jones, CEO of London Southend Airport, has appealed to Government to “put down the current country-based sledgehammer approach to quarantine”, and apply a more nuanced approach – such as route-level air bridges or testing on arrival.
“It does appear that this may provide a way forward,” Jones told Telegraph Travel. “Indeed, we have held discussions [about testing] with prospective partners.”
So what would a testing regime look like? Dr Charlie Easmon, of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, tells Telegraph Travel: “Testing is the best solution because it is rooted in science. It is accurate, fast, simple and non-invasive. Qualities which the current quarantine system is not.”
While the technology is already there for what is known as a LAMP test, with 40-minute results, Heathrow is now working with Oxford and Manchester universities to develop a test with results in just twenty seconds. Its screening centre, located at Terminal 2, has the capacity to provide more than 13,000 passenger tests per day – and will soon be joined by an additional facility at Terminal 5.
Heathrow’s John Kaye Holland told the Telegraph: “We’ve put some of the most cutting-edge rapid testing technologies into action at Heathrow to see which offers the best solution.
“If we can find a test that is accurate, gets a result within a matter of minutes, is cost-effective and gets the Government green light, we could have the potential to introduce wide-scale testing at the airport. Every passenger travelling through Heathrow would have the confidence to know the airport is COVID-free, boosting demand and getting the UK back to safely travelling the world again.”
But any testing programmes must be viable for smaller airports to implement, Southend CEO Glyn Jones has stressed: “It is essential that the Government establishes industry-wide protocols which can be implemented by airports large and small.
“It is [also] paramount that results from any testing regime are fast, accurate and affordable.
“We need Government to help restart our industry by providing policy which is clear, consistent and proportionate to risk, rather than by requiring passengers to enter quarantine when returning from an ever changing list of countries – many parts of which have infection rates lower than the UK.”
With the launch of the Test4Travel campaign, the Telegraph urges the Government to test all arrivals on entry to the UK in order to drop the current, ineffective quarantine. We believe this testing regime will save the travel industry, help to revive the UK’s tourism economy and restore the nation’s faith in our holidays, in a way that will better contain the spread of Covid-19.
