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Airport tests are the only way our vital travel industry can recover

A reliable test for all arriving passengers that can produce a result in 40 minutes already exists and would cost the consumer less than £40 - getty
A reliable test for all arriving passengers that can produce a result in 40 minutes already exists and would cost the consumer less than £40 - getty
LOGO: Test4Travel
LOGO: Test4Travel

Is this any way to rebuild confidence in travel? Since June 8, when quarantine rules were first introduced, we have been left in a constant state of flux and confusion. On July 10 the “air bridges” system was introduced, allowing us to travel to a few dozen countries without having to isolate on our return. At the end of the month, Spain was removed from the list with only a few hours’ notice. Since then, France and Holland, Croatia and Switzerland – among others – have met the same fate.

And the rationale behind these removals has become entirely opaque. After much confusion over Spain, Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, finally gave a clear indication of the basis on which decisions are made. Countries with a weekly infection rate above 20 per 100,000 of the population would have their air bridge privileges removed and quarantine rules reimposed.

Yet this week, despite Portugal being over the limit with infection rates still rising, the Government did not impose quarantine rules on travellers returning from the country.

Shapps justified the decision on Twitter with a list of additional factors: “Level & rate of change; extent of in-country tests, regime & test positivity; extent of contained outbreak as opposed to general transmission; govt actions & other epidemiological information”. At a stroke, we went from a clear policy to one that was impossible to follow.

To make matters worse, Scotland and Wales are going their separate ways. Fly back to Wales from Portugal and some Greek islands and you will have to quarantine. Return to Scotland from either country and you will suffer the same fate. None of these restrictions apply to England.

The travel industry is banging its head against the wall in frustration, and consumers are left anxious and uncertain. Many who were in Portugal this week, and monitoring the infection rates there, assumed quarantine would be introduced and rushed home early, some paying over £500 each for their new flights. They could have stayed happily and returned home as originally planned.

I have some sympathy for those trying to manage this policy. But it has become clear the problem is not the way it is administered, but the policy itself. As a second wave of Covid-19 surges through Europe, it is too unwieldy. Instead of boosting confidence in travel, it undermines it.

But there is a solution. Last week The Telegraph launched a new campaign – Test4Travel – to get Britain travelling again safely. The current quarantine arrangements are not the only way to tackle the problem: we think the answer lies in airport testing and there is increasing certainty in the industry that this is the way forward.

A reliable test for all arriving passengers that can produce a result in 40 minutes already exists and would cost the consumer less than £40. There are prospects for an even speedier result – Heathrow Airport is working with Oxford and Manchester universities to develop a test with results in 20 seconds.

It wouldn’t eliminate the need for quarantine entirely. There would have to be a second test a few days later, to confirm the initial result. But the length of time spent in isolation would reduce from 14 days to five. That would make a huge difference to the willingness of many to start travelling again.

Consensus for the plan is growing. In the past few days, industry big hitters have spoken out for the need for a testing regime to reduce or replace quarantine. They include Willie Walsh, head of the company that owns BA; the chief executives of Heathrow Airport and Virgin Atlantic; many tour operators; a group of 80 MPs; and leading health experts Prof Karol Sikora and Dr Charlie Easmon.

Travellers like the idea, too. A survey for Telegraph Travel by The PC Agency and AudienceNet showed that 62 per cent of the population support a test on arrivals over a 14-day quarantine, and more than half would be willing to cover the cost. Of those who expressed an opinion, 73 per cent preferred the idea of a two-part test to the 14-day rule.

Among Telegraph readers, support is even stronger. In our Twitter poll last week, 92 per cent backed airport testing as a way to remove the need for quarantine – and the majority of you said you would be happy to pay if necessary.

We think it’s time to get Britain travelling again – and clearly you do, too. We’ll keep you updated.