Now extend rapid airport tests to new places, say travel bosses

Passengers flying out of Heathrow airport from today will be able to take an £80 test before check-in that will allow them to enter the Italy and Hong Kong without lengthy quarantine
A pre-departure rapid Covid-19 testing facility is being launched at Heathrow Airport.
PA

Travel bosses today welcomed the introduction of rapid Covid-19 testing for passengers leaving Heathrow for Italy and Hong Kong as a small “step in the right direction” but called for it to be extended to other major destinations “as quickly as possible”. Passengers flying out of the west London airport from today will be able to take an £80 test before check-in that will allow them to enter the two countries without lengthy quarantine.

However, the type of test on offer, based on a saliva swab with results in 20 minutes, has not yet been accepted as sufficiently rigorous by a host of other destinations including Greece, Cyprus and the Bahamas. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has refused to authorise the use of tests at airports on return from trips abroad, arguing that they are not effective in identifying passengers infected with the virus.

A spokesman for the tour operators industry body Abta said: “The announcement that Heathrow is testing passengers to Hong Kong and Italy is a step in the right direction.

“Quick, affordable and internationally recognised testing is urgently needed for arrivals and departures to reopen travel, kickstart the economy and save hundreds of thousands of jobs that are currently at risk.

“It is also vital that the Government fully regionalise travel corridors and transition away from the current global advisory against all but essential travel by moving back to country specific foreign travel advice.”

Noel Josephides, chairman of specialist travel company Sunvil and a former Abta chairman, said: “The problem is that the test they’re introducing is only acceptable to Italy and Hong Kong but it is not acceptable to lots of other countries who need a lab test. We would like to see that changed.”

Travel bosses said the planned reduction in quarantine for travellers arriving in the UK from 14 days to seven days with a test from the start of December would have little impact on the number of passengers flying from the UK for holidays abroad and foreign tourists arriving in London

Tom Jenkins, chief executive of the European travel company body Etoa, said: “It just means travellers are only being half beaten-up when they arrive in the UK.

“You can’t sell a holiday on that basis. Would you want to spend the first seven days of your holiday in a hotel room? It is still an extremely hostile environment for inbound tourism. It is a tiny step in the right direction and that is to be welcomed but there is still a £25 billion hole in the London tourism economy.”

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