New COVID-19 screening service launches at West Sussex airport
The site will allow for results the next day.
A new coronavirus screening centre is opening at Gatwick Airport.
The site, which is located within the West Sussex airport's Long Stay Car Park at the South Terminal, is launching alongside ExpressTest.
It will reportedly offer a "fast, accurate and lab-analysed" swab test.
Passengers, employees based at Gatwick and the general public, including local residents, will be able to make use of it from Monday (30 November).
The site will allow for results the next day, and so can be used by air passengers who may require a valid, negative COVID-19 test certificate for destinations requiring one from up to 96 hours before travel.
The facility could also, with any necessary amendments, comply with the Government's expected 'test and release' scheme for those arriving in the UK, allowing air passengers to reduce quarantine time after travelling back from certain destinations.
Anyone with recognisable COVID-19 symptoms will still need to use an NHS testing facility.
Air passengers and any employees based at Gatwick Airport will be charged a subsidised rate of £60 to use the screening service, whilst it will also be available for the general public for £99.
A group discount is also offered, with up to 30 per cent off for groups of four or more, for those who are having the full priced test.
Stewart Wingate, chief executive officer at Gatwick Airport, said:
"Reducing the spread of COVID-19 is a priority for us alongside giving confidence to so many people who have missed travelling during this difficult year.
"Our new screening facility is also a convenient service to offer people in the region looking for extra reassurance.
"We are pleased to be subsidising the price for our passengers and any staff based at Gatwick so they are compliant with current destination requirements that many of airlines including easyJet, British Airways and TUI fly to.
"Our industry has been decimated by the pandemic and, while we welcome the anticipated 'test and release' scheme from the Government, we want to see an internationally agreed pre-departure testing regime, based on existing risk criteria, to replace the current uncertainty of quarantine and patchwork of testing approaches which currently exists across Europe.
"A truly international approach would safely open up most of the UK's travel routes abroad, while also helping to reduce transmission of the virus."
Meanwhile ExpressTest founder Nick Markham added they are "delighted" to be Gatwick Airport's official screening partner:
"We launched ExpressTest to give people peace of mind, whether that's enabling travel through our Fit to Fly certificates, or providing the reassurance needed to safely visit friends and family abroad or within the UK.
"In the next couple of months we aim to have more than 30 locations operating across the UK, with the ambition of giving the British public the confidence to go about their daily lives in these uncertain times."
Test results will be emailed or texted to customers typically the next day, with airline passengers advised to schedule a test 48 to 96 hours prior to their departure time, as a precaution.
Those who screen negative will be emailed a Fit to Fly certificate that is authorised by a doctor, along with their test result, however passengers will be responsible for checking with their travel provider as to whether this document is accepted before booking the screening service.
People can book appointments from next Friday (27 November), with the first test available on Monday (30 November).
Tests can be booked online.
Customers will then be sent a QR code which they must bring with them to their appointment, along with their passport or employee ID.
Payment will be taken during the booking process.
The site will be open between 8am and 8pm, and customers are asked to arrive 15 minutes before their appointment.