MASSIVE NEWS - NORTH AMERICA TO OPEN30 Sep 2020 15:02
irport testing at London Heathrow could be in place within two weeks, the Government has suggested, with flights to New York “up and running” by the end of November.
John Holland-Kaye, CEO of Heathrow, told Travel Weekly: “We’ve heard from the Prime Minister that he hopes to go to a trial in the second half of October. It would take a couple of weeks to put into practice.”
The test would cost £150, to be taken upon departure with another to follow five or seven days later; effectively halving the current 14-day quarantine requirement.
Holland-Kaye also said testing on routes between London and New York by Thanksgiving (November 26) “seems entirely feasible”, adding the demand would be “enormous”.
“If we get good results, there is no reason we shouldn’t be able to extend it,” he told the publication. “It’s possible that in the first or second quarter of next year, we see ‘rapid point of care’ tests become more normal.”
A senior airline source stressed that the programme would have to be integrated with the Government’s test-and-trace system, rather than involve private testing, stating: “There are things developing behind the scenes. If we have a decision in October, there is no reason a trial couldn’t be in place for November.”