Virgin Atlantic has started its pre-departure testing trial, with passengers aged five and over departing for Barbados on Thursday given a free lateral flow antigen test at Heathrow.
The airline is offering the free tests to gather date on the efficacy of pre-departure testing, with the tests delivered by health professionals at Collinson and Swissport’s Terminal 2 pre-departure testing facility.
A total of 162 customers were tested, with all returning negative results, in addition to 11 crew.
Virgin is running a six-week trial to demonstrate the deliverability of a pre-departure testing regime at scale, with customers on selected flights to Barbados and onwards to Antigua and Grenada asked to take a test on departure.
The anonymised results of the trial will contribute to the biggest pre-departure study in the UK, which is being overseen by Heathrow.
Corneel Koster, Virgin Atlantic chief customer & operating officer, said: “Our Heathrow-Barbados rapid testing trial offers further peace of mind for customers and builds upon Virgin Atlantic’s multi-layered health and safety measures to ensure that everyone flies safe and well.
“We’re grateful to everyone taking part in this important trial, with each recipient of a rapid test contributing to new learning on the efficacy and logistics of a pre-departure testing regime, supporting the safe removal of quarantine.”
Koster added: “The upcoming UK ‘test to release’ scheme is a vital first step in re-opening the skies, but we must now move rapidly towards a single test pre-departure regime in order to ensure the survival of UK aviation and protect 500,000 jobs reliant on the sector.”
David Evans, joint chief executive of Collinson, said: “These testing trials are the first of their kind in the UK and are the latest step in the much-needed recovery of the global travel industry.
“Rapid tests, such as these antigen tests, and the RT-LAMP tests we also provide, play a key role in keeping the spread of the virus low. Pre-flight testing means we know the passenger’s health status just before they board the plane.”
Virgin Atlantic has also launched its first route since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, with flights from Manchester to Islamabad starting on Thursday.
The new route is part of an increased Virgin service between the UK and Pakistan, with flights between Heathrow and Islamabad starting on Saturday and services between Heathrow and Lahore commencing on Sunday.