Heathrow ready to become first UK airport to offer medical COVID-19 testing  

by Suman Gupta

• UK’s only hub airport ready to pilot ‘Test-on-Arrival’ PCR testing procedure from Collinson and Swissport

• ‘Test-on-Arrival’ can take-off subject to Government approval of a 43^rd exemption to the quarantine

• Procedure can restore public confidence in aviation and travel and be a welcome boost to the wider economy

LONDON, July 2020: Collinson and Swissport have today announced they are working with Heathrow Airport to offer a pilot of their COVID-19 testing procedure. The pilot, the first of its kind in the UK, will mean passengers can be checked for COVID-19 upon landing at Heathrow and know just hours later if they have tested positive for the virus. All three organisations are hoping the ‘Test-on-Arrival’ procedure could provide a solution to those travelling from places not included on last week’s list of countries exempt from quarantine, if the Government also adds people testing negative during the process to its list of exemptions.

The announcement comes a couple of weeks after Collinson and Swissport announced ‘Test-on-Arrival’ as a potential alternative to the blanket 14-day quarantine policy. The experts in global medical and travel experience services and the airport ground and cargo handling service joined forces to devise the testing process and are now partnering with Heathrow to roll out the pilot. If embraced by the Government, the tests can build on the first step that was made with the traffic light system and help travel sector recovery by enabling even more people to travel from ‘red’ countries where quarantine is still required. And while maintaining public confidence around preventing the spread of the virus.

Heathrow CEO, John Holland-Kaye, said: “The Government made a significant step forward last week by removing quarantine for visitors from many countries, but we still need a solution that safely allows passengers to travel to and from higher risk countries. This trial with Swissport and Collinson will provide a much-needed alternative to quarantine for those arriving passengers and should add further momentum to the Government’s push for Common International Standards which are needed for the resumption of global travel.”

The pilot of the new testing procedure would be available as a private service to anyone with a flight landing in Heathrow Terminal 2. Passengers will need to set up an account and book their test online, before beginning their journey to the UK. The tests will be carried out by Collinson nurses in a Swissport facility on arrival at the airport. During the appointment, a swab will be taken for testing, which is then sent to a Collinson biotech lab near Heathrow, using the same transportation protocols the NHS uses for home swab tests.

The tests, which use the gold standard of virus detection, RT-PCR testing, are sensitive enough to detect COVID-19 particles, even when a passenger has displayed no symptoms. If travelling from a country where quarantine is still required, passengers will be asked to continue from Heathrow to the address they provided at the time of booking, while they await their test results, which they’ll receive within 24 hours.

If this arrivals testing model is added by the Government as an additional exemption to the quarantine policy, the long term ambition is for passengers to be free to leave quarantine measures when given the all clear (the outcome for around 95% of tests). In the less likely event that the test comes back positive, they’ll be asked to abide by isolation requirements, staying at their given quarantine address for the next 14 days.

“We launched the tests to help get the travel ecosystem moving again, using science to reassure the public it’s safe to do so,” said David Evans, Joint CEO at Collinson. “PCR testing is the gold standard of COVID-19 testing, used by the NHS and Public Health England, as it is able to detect the virus even when someone is asymptomatic.”

“We have seen the results of clinical trials using the same testing protocol at other European airports. In these trials, travellers were tested on arrival and again five days later. They showed zero cases of someone testing negative in the first instance and then positive in the second, proving the sensitivity of the tests when carried out on arrival. We’re looking forward to working with Heathrow to pilot this science-led approach. Together, we can provide a pioneering solution that will get the travel and aviation sector back on its feet, which will be a massive boost for the UK’s economy.”

“Test-on-Arrival perfectly complements last week’s list of countries exempt from quarantine,” said Richard Cawthra, Chief Commercial Officer, Swissport. “Should the Government also grant the exemption we are seeking, travellers could go to countries beyond those on the list with confidence, knowing that they would not face a quarantine upon landing in the UK as long as they test negative. This would not only stimulate inbound and outbound tourism and business travel in the UK, helping the economy and the travel sector back on their feet, but it would also safeguard the success of reopening up routes with the countries on the list. For example, if a country’s status was changed to ‘red’, testing would allow the Government to keep the route open with quarantine reintroduced unless they test negative. That is why this testing pilot with Heathrow is so vital – it’ll allow for more flexibility with how people can travel, while keeping the public safe.”

London Heathrow is the UK’s busiest airport. Last year, more than 80 million passengers passed through its four terminals. It is the UK’s only hub airport connecting Britain to over 203 worldwide destinations. As well as offering ‘Test-on-Arrival’ to passengers landing in the UK, Collinson and Swissport are also exploring options to work with other airports and governments worldwide in order to offer the tests to outbound passengers, reducing the need for people leaving the UK to quarantine in other countries.

About Collinson: Collinson is a global leader in the provision of traveller experiences including medical and security assistance and travel medical services. Its travel medical and security assistance business unit has more than 55 years’ experience in the delivery of international medical assistance and emergency care, including the handling of pandemics such as Ebola, Zika and the coronavirus. Last year alone, Collinson responded to over 95,000 emergency calls, managed over 40,000 medical cases and conducted over 3,000 aero-medical evacuations across the 170 countries it serves.

Collinson has over 2,200 employees operating out of 20 locations globally, all working to deliver a broad range of traveller experiences that ensure the safety, welfare and comfort of 55 million people as they travel for business and leisure around the world. Collinson’s traveller experiences include the world’s leading airport lounge and experiences programme, Priority Pass, as well as travel insurance, identity assistance, flight delay, international health and travel risk management solutions. We work with clients including: American Express, Cathay Pacific, CBA, Mastercard, Radisson Hotel Group, UnionPay and Visa.

About Swissport: In 2019, Swissport International AG provided best-in-class airport ground services for some 265 million airline passengers and handled roughly 4.6 million tons of air freight at 115 cargo warehouses worldwide. Several of its warehouses have been certified for pharmaceutical logistics by IATA’s CEIV. The world’s leader in airport ground services and air cargo handling, with 64,000 employees, achieved consolidated operating revenue of 3.13 billion euros in 2019. At the end of December 2019, Swissport was operating at 300 airports in 47 countries on six continents.

About Heathrow: Heathrow is Europe’s largest airport and one of the world’s top international aviation hubs. As the UK’s global gateway, Heathrow welcomes more than 80 million passengers every year. The airport is home to more than 80 airlines and is Britain’s largest cargo port, helping to drive British trade growth by connecting the nation to more than 200 destinations around the world.