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Bloomberg
Airline passengers will need to take Covid-19 tests before flying long after a vaccine for the viral infection is introduced, according to the head of the airport that was Europe’s busiest before the pandemic struck.
The time required for a global vaccine roll-out means testing must go hand-in-hand with inoculation if international travel is to return to meaningful levels, Heathrow airport Chief Executive Officer John Holland-Kaye said in an interview.
“Even with the UK getting early access to a vaccine it’ll take a year and a half to vaccinate the entire country,†Holland-Kaye told Bloomberg TV. “It’s going to take much longer before even the fastest vaccine can really have a massive impact around the world.â€
International flights have barely revived from groundings earlier this year as countries impose travel curbs to stem fresh outbreaks of the coronavirus. While Pfizer’s announcement of a vaccine that appears to prevent 90% of infections buoyed airline stocks, it’s not clear how air-transport regulators will respond and how quickly the breakthrough will benefit the industry.
The current imperative is to quickly introduce Covid-19 tests for people arriving in
the UK from high-risk areas in order to slash quarantine periods that are putting almost all potential customers off flying, Holland-Kaye said.
Later, pre-departure tests should see people screened 72 hours before flying and again on landing, potentially obviating the need for self-isolation, the CEO said. Testing could ultimately be eased as countries get the disease under control, aided by a vaccine, though it may take “a number of years to get to that point.â€
Heathrow has been Europe’s busiest airport for years, though Paris Charles De Gaulle overtook it in the first nine months after UK quarantines introduced to fight the virus hammered air traffic.
The London hub’s passenger tally was down 82% last month compared with a year earlier, it reported Wednesday, with the normally lucrative North American market slumping 95%.