Airport PCR testing provider drops price to £66

Collinson is also rolling out same-day Lamp tests to all airports

Heathrow arrivals (EPA)

An airport Covid-19 testing provider has announced it will drop the price of its PCR and antigen tests.

Collinson, which offers onsite testing at Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, City, Manchester, East Midlands and Stansted airports, will cut PCR and lateral flow antigen test prices to £66 and £32 respectively from 17 May.

The provider has also announced it will be rolling out same-day result Lamp tests across the UK’s airports.

These can be used by travellers returning from amber countries in order to leave quarantine early on day five (providing the result is negative), and will be priced at £76.

Collinson is the only government-approved testing provider to currently offer same-day results for the test-to-release scheme, meaning quarantinees can take a test on day five and stop self-isolating the same day.

“Ever since we launched airport testing last summer, we’ve been focused on making the process as convenient and accessible to as many people as possible, making sure they can fly safely in accordance with latest government guidelines,” said David Evans, joint CEO of Collinson.

“We’re thrilled to be able to announce these new prices, which we’re able to do thanks to the growing scale of our operations.

“Furthermore, with so many countries still on the Government’s Amber list, our rapid Lamp TTR option is a critical enabler to getting aviation, business travel and – ultimately – trade, safely open again.

“We know airport testing is the most successful way of keeping everyone safe, while keeping the travel ecosystem moving – and that’s why we’re announcing these changes in line with UK travel resuming from next week.”

International leisure travel may legally resume from England from 17 May under a traffic light system.

The government has classified countries as green, amber or red based on the risk of reimporting Covid infections, with restrictions of varying severity to match.

Only arrivals from green countries can forgo quarantine, but must still take two tests: one before departing for the UK and one PCR test within two days of arriving.

Travel companies are increasingly partnering with testing providers to offer cut price packages for holidaymakers.

British Airways announced it had teamed up with Eurofins to offer a discount PCR test for travel for £40.41, while Tui has partnered with Chronomics to offer a range of testing packages, including one priced at just £20 for green list travellers.