Also announcing new testing facility at The O2 Arena for increased ‘Day 8’ passenger convenience
Collinson has announced it is the first private provider given the go-ahead to offer the mandatory travel tests currently required by UK Government, directly in the airport terminal. Collinson will offer the first of the two required tests on the day of arrival directly at the airport from Thursday 11th March. The private tests from Collinson will help alleviate burden on the NHS, the only current provider allowed to offer the ‘Day 2 or before’ and ‘Day 8 or after’ testing package. Collinson’s testing package will also be 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 is exclusively revealing today that it has 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 used by the NHS. Travellers will be able to 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 is also hoping 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 in order to build valuable data that can be used to help encourage the Government to shorten the ‘Test to Release’ quarantine period this summer.
David Evans, Joint CEO, Collinson, 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, and that’s because we’ve always known airport testing will be at the heart of travel recovery.
This green light today makes us the only provider who can offer testing as soon as the passenger arrives at the airport - from day zero – and it means we can help alleviate some of the burden from the NHS, which is currently the only organisation running the mandatory testing for arrivals.
“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.”
Note: From 04:00 on Thursday 11th March, Border Control and Airlines will begin being able to accept Passenger Locator Forms with Collinson’s unique customer reference code, which must be completed before passengers check-in to flights to England. Collinson’s testing package, which can be booked here, will cost £198, cheaper than the £210 package currently being sold by the NHS.
