The Times
Graeme Paton
Gerry Gajadharsingh writes:
“Better late than never! Whilst many countries around the world have been seeking solutions to restart international travel for both work and social/holiday reasons. We in the UK seem to have been really slow in finding a solution. I posted my first blog about this on 29th July, so almost 3 months ago
I declare an interest in that my eldest daughter Chloe works as cabin crew for Virgin Atlantic and historically about 30% of my patients are international i.e., they don’t even live in the UK. So, I have both professional, personal and pragmatic reasons for supporting testing for travellers. The article suggests that for inbound passengers it may well be at least December until the UK government actually give approval, so yet another delay. Maybe all the other countries around the world who are accepting negative COVID-19 test results in order to enter their countries may well be wrong, but I suspect not!”
Passengers will undergo a one-hour coronavirus test before flying out of Britain under plans to open up international air travel.
Rapid tests will be introduced from today at Heathrow to allow travellers to enter countries where a negative Covid-19 result is required to avoid being quarantined.
The system will initially be available for those going to Hong Kong and Italy, which permit quick pre-flight tests as evidence that passengers are free of the virus. They will be required to book a test in advance at a cost of £80.
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, said yesterday that the government was also in talks with the United States over a trial of pre-departure tests between the two countries.
He said that passengers on the route may be able to avoid quarantine altogether when they arrive in Britain by isolating before they fly or sitting a test in the US. It is hoped that it will form the basis of a worldwide travel standard, he said.
Aviation has been devastated by the pandemic with passenger numbers collapsing by as much as 90 per cent. It has been exacerbated by tough border rules imposed by countries to control the virus.
In Britain anyone arriving from about 150 high-risk countries is required to quarantine for two weeks. Only a small number of quarantine-free “travel corridors” exist between the UK and “safe” countries.
Last month the government set up a task force to examine how to open up the country to international travel. Mr Shapps said that ministers had agreed a regime in which arrivals will self-isolate for a week before paying for a single coronavirus test carried out by a private company, halving the fortnight-long quarantine for those with a negative result. It is hoped that this will be in place by December, but airlines are pushing for pre-flight tests as a long-term solution.
Addressing the Airlines 2050 conference, Mr Shapps said that he was “extremely hopeful” that it would be in place by December 1 but insisted that no guarantee could be given because it was dependent on private testing companies having enough capacity.
This is separate from continuing talks with countries such as the US on a pre-flight testing system, he said.
Yesterday Sean Doyle, the new chief executive of British Airways, said that Britain’s proposed “test-and-release” system after seven days would not work. In his first comments in the role, he said: “It is our view that even if that quarantine period is reduced to, say, seven days people won’t travel here and the UK will get left behind.”
He added: “We do not believe quarantine is the solution. We believe the best way to reassure people is to introduce a reliable and affordable test before flying.”
Shai Weiss, the chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, added: “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.”
Some countries have already scrapped quarantine altogether for people who can prove that they do not have the virus when they arrive.
Today Collinson Group and Swissport, the aviation services companies, confirmed that they had set up “rapid testing” facilities for outbound passengers at Heathrow.
The landside facilities, at Terminals 2 and 5, will initially use “loop-mediated isothermal amplification” (Lamp) tests developed by Oxford University, which can deliver a result in an hour.
These differ from the PCR tests operated by the NHS, which must be processed through a laboratory, with results usually coming in 24 hours.
The testing facilities will initially be open for four weeks and could be extended depending on passenger demand.
Because results of rapid tests are accepted by Italy and Hong Kong as proof that passengers are virus-free the Heathrow facility will initially prioritise passengers bound for these destinations.
It coincides with the introduction of a “health passport”, which will be tested on a United Airlines flight between Heathrow and Newark, New Jersey, for the first-time tomorrow.
David Evans, joint chief executive of Collinson, said: “With countries around the world adding the UK to their list of ‘high-risk’ countries, we need to find a way . . . to safely open up travel out of the UK.”
Mr Shapps confirmed that the government was in talks with the US over a trial of pre-departure tests.
“We are talking to the US homeland security and others about it,” he said.
“It is a kind of approach where we can get trials up which can then become a global standard. That could involve a series of tests which may involve quarantine before or after flight — or a combination of them both — and ultimately, if the technology is there, no quarantine at all in return for a perhaps daily rapid test.”
John Holland-Kaye, chief executive of Heathrow, said: “Britain is on the brink of an economic emergency. Many other countries are already using testing to keep their borders safe while restarting trade and travel.
“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.”