An airport Covid testing specialist is to offer day two arrival lateral flow swabs from £25 when they replace costly PCRs from October 26.
The details came as the government made its day two lateral flow service live to book from today for use from Sunday. Providers are recommended by region.
The new Cignpost ExpressTest service can be home delivered or completed at 24 airport and regional testing centres in England.
Results are confirmed in 25 minutes and authenticated when the customer uploads a photograph of their test and passport number to a dedicated app.
The image is then checked and official proof of status sent within 60 minutes during hours of operation, which have been extended from 8am to 11.59pm each day.
The specially developed app includes a unique QR code to identify each test, plus a guide to completing the test correctly and a timer for processing the lateral flow result.
Company chief executive Christian Corney said: “We have made a significant investment in our lateral flow testing process to give customers the best experience; providing support at the time of testing, swift access to help if needed, and by creating a robust app that will keep personal data secure.
“Our network of testing centres, including at Heathrow, Gatwick and Birmingham airports, and at town and city centre locations across England, will be invaluable to fully vaccinated tourists and business travellers from other countries, who might find it difficult to receive tests through the postal service and want another option that is simple and secure.
“As a government accredited Covid-19 testing provider, our aim is always to make our products as affordable and simple to use as possible.”