Airport call to set screening standard
HEATHROW CHIEF EXECUTIVE SAYS IT WILL GIVE PEOPLE CONFIDENCE
HEATHROW bosses are working to gain support for a common standard of coronavirus testing to be introduced at airports worldwide.
Earlier this month, the West London airport’s chief, executive John Holland-Kaye, said it was time to introduce the measures to win back public confidence in travelling.
He said: “Heathrow continues to serve the nation by keeping vital supply lines open, and helping people get home.
“Now is the time to agree a common international standard for healthcare screening in airports so that when this crisis recedes, people can travel with confidence and we can get the British economy moving again.”
But Heathrow denied that the move is in response to concerns that coronavirus testing has not been employed extensively enough at Heathrow during the crisis, even though passengers have reported on social media being alarmed there was no routine testing when they landed in the UK.
Heathrow continues to see the most flight departures from UK airports, according to flight tracker website FlightRadar24.com.
Figures from the site show 464 flights took off from Heathrow last week, making up the majority of the UK’s 784 departures during the same period.
The busiest UK terminal has been put in the spotlight during the pandemic, with passengers questioning why they weren’t subject to any coronavirus health checks compared to stringent measures at other international airports.
But a Heathrow spokesperson said “it is not true” that some airports are safer than others.
They told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The current health protection measures at UK airports are implemented by the Government acting on evidence and recommendations from health experts responding to the current crisis.
“In the future, some of these measures are likely to change as the travel industry looks to rebuild confidence and trust in travel.
“It is critical that new measures are standardised across the world which is not the case today, causing confusion and concern that some airports are safer than others which is not true. We are working on gaining consensus that a universal approach needs to be adopted by all before working on the detail around what that could involve.”
Currently countries such as Italy, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have been screening passengers for temperature and Covid-19 symptoms.
Coronavirus measures at UK airports are decided by Public Health England, and it is understood expert advice suggests temperature checks at the borders hold little clinical value and will pick up a small number of cases.
Enhanced monitoring measures however, such as a 24/7 Health Protection Team to respond to symptomatic passengers, in-flight broadcasts of information and leaflets have been in place since January, 22.
At Heathrow, an isolated terminal area is being used for PHE officials to liaise with suspected ill travellers, and shops and restaurants have closed with the exception of a select few take-away outlets.
Signage to access information and support and social distancing measures are also in place.