Heathrow aims to open up international travel with new on-site coronavirus testing

A UK airport has announced that it is aiming to reopen international flight paths as it launches an on-site coronavirus testing service.

Heathrow reported this morning that from today it will be offering one-hour Covid tests to passengers as they check in.

The tests, which will cost £80 per passenger, are part of the airport’s plans to ‘open up international travel’.

They will be offered at Terminals 2 and 5 for trips to Hong Kong and Italy, and will be available for an initial run of four weeks with the potential for the service to be extended.

This comes less than a week after aviation company British Airways announced that it will be moving more of its services to Heathrow from rival airport Gatwick.

John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow’s chief executive, commented: “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.

“We will work with them to make this happen as soon as possible, so that we protect livelihoods as well as lives.”

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