UK. Collinson has become the first private provider given the go-ahead to offer the mandatory travel tests currently required by the UK government, directly in the airport terminal.
Collinson began offering the first of the two required tests on the day of arrival directly at the airport from 11 March. The private tests from Collinson will help alleviate burden on the National Health Service (NHS), previously the only provider allowed to offer the ‘Day 2 or before’ and ‘Day 8 or after’ testing package.
Collinson’s testing package is also cheaper and more convenient for passengers.
As well as being able to take tests either in-terminal or at drive-through sites at any of the facilities Collinson already has up and running at Heathrow, Manchester, Stansted, London City, Luton and East Midlands airports, the company has also opened a testing facility at The O2 Arena in London.
Travellers can use either a drive-through or walk-through at the arena’s spacious car park as a convenient, central London location for their Day 8 or after test, as well as their Day 2 or before test if they chose not to take one at the airport.
Collinson’s in-person testing process is the most reliable way for travellers needing to conduct essential journeys (as in accordance with UK law) to ensure they can leave quarantine on Day 10, as it eliminates the risk of tests being delayed or going missing in the post.
Both tests in the package are RT-PCR Tests – the gold standard of Covid-19 testing – and the same as used by the NHS. Travellers can book the first test at their arrival airport and the second at any location that is convenient to them, including The O2. Government guidelines allow those quarantining to travel directly to and from an in-person testing centre in order to take their required tests.
Collinson also hopes that by passengers taking the first of the required tests at the airport on arrival, it can begin to track results and compare them to the Day 8 test. This will allow the company to build valuable data that can be used to encourage the Government to shorten the ‘Test to Release’ quarantine period this summer.
Collinson Joint CEO David Evans said, “We’ve been working with the rest of the aviation and travel industry over the past year to create the most flexible, convenient testing processes for passengers coming in and out of the UK. That’s because we’ve always known airport testing will be at the heart of travel recovery.
“Let’s hope this marks the first step in travel recovery, with the data gathered from these tests helping to inform the Government’s roadmap, to be announced next month. Testing at the border is, after all, the best way to get passengers back in the air again, but to do so safely and while limiting spread of the virus.”
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