London City Airport has announced it is expanding its testing capabilities with a new,
larger facility in partnership with Collinson, the expert in global medical assistance and
travel experiences.
The brand-new facility, located less than a minute’s walk from the airport terminal, will
be able to administer over 200 tests per hour and will be available to meet increased
demand from passengers when the UK Government decides to meaningfully restart
international travel.
Passengers will be offered a full range of Government-approved COVID-19 testing
solutions, and for passengers returning from amber list countries, the London City
facility will offer a same day Test to Release service. This will enable passengers who
receive a negative test result to end their quarantine on day five.
Ahead of the next Government reviews of international travel later this month, both
London City Airport and Collinson believe the Global Travel Taskforce should consider
the following changes as we approach the traditional peak summer getaway season:
• Trust Testing – the private sector has invested heavily to create a
comprehensive, robust international travel testing system that would enable
safe travel in accordance with UK Government guidelines. Taken alongside
the UK’s highly successful vaccine rollout, we believe that practical, reliable,
affordable testing can boost passenger confidence and open up
international travel safely.
• Follow the Data – given the vaccine rollout and the robust testing regime, the
Government should consider utilising the latest data to recognise the status of
vaccinated travellers and facilitate safe travel for British holidaymakers to
amber list countries where infection rates are low e.g., Portugal
• Don’t be left behind by Europe – the European Commission has set a clear
direction to restart travel by 1st July and is progressing with a Digital Covid
Certificate that will be recognised by every member state, enabling travellers
to use proof of a vaccination or negative test result to travel safely within the
EU.
Passengers heading to ‘Green’ and Amber’ countries are currently required to take
several tests both prior to departure and on arrival. Over the past few weeks, the
number of people taking tests at London City has doubled, showing there is strong
acceptance of testing and demand for post-lockdown trips abroad during the
summer months. And a recent survey for London City Airport showed that 46% of
people indicated a preference to fly to the Mediterranean this year.
The investment in a new facility will provide London City with increased testing
capacity and the ability to deliver an additional 200-250 tests per hour, in line with
expected demand, and current airline schedules. Tests are available to both
passengers flying from the airport and people looking for a convenient London
location to take their test, before flying from another airport.
Collinson is the only UK Government-approved provider of the Test to Release (TTR)
process that can release travellers arriving from ‘Amber’ countries from quarantine at
the earliest time possible: after they have completed five full days of quarantine.
London City will be one of the few locations offering Collinson’s rapid RT-LAMP
solution, which was developed by Oxford University and approved by the UK
Government. Travellers with appointments made up until 4pm can be released from
quarantine on the same day as taking their day five test* – much quicker than RT-PCR
tests, which can take 48 hours to turnaround.
