Virgin Atlantic has kicked off its six-week pre-departure Covid testing trial with 162 travellers receiving a test prior to their flight to Barbados.
All passengers aged five years and above took a free antigen test at Heathrow Airport before boarding the Caribbean-bound aircraft. All returned a negative result.
The 11 crew members also received a pre-departure test.
The Barbados flight was the first in a six-week trial to test the deliverability and efficacy of a pre-departure testing regime at scale, ahead of a widely-available vaccine.
Customers on selected flights from Heathrow to Barbados and onwards to Antigua and Grenada will be requested to take a test on departure
Chief Customer and Operating Officer, Corneel Koster said: "Our Heathrow-Barbados rapid testing trial offers further peace of mind for customers and builds upon Virgin Atlantic’s multi-layered health and safety measures to ensure that everyone flies safe and well.
"We’re grateful to everyone taking part in this important trial, with each recipient of a rapid test contributing to new learning on the efficacy and logistics of a pre-departure testing regime, supporting the safe removal of quarantine.
"The upcoming UK ‘test to release’ scheme is a vital first step in re-opening the skies, but we must now move rapidly towards a single test pre-departure regime in order to ensure the survival of UK aviation and protect 500,000 jobs reliant on the sector."
The tests were carried out by healthcare company Collinson at a testing facility at Heathrow Terminal 2.
Collinson CEO David Evans said: "These testing trials are the first of their kind in the UK and are the latest step in the much-needed recovery of the global travel industry.
"Rapid tests, such as these antigen tests, and the RT-LAMP tests we also provide, play a key role in keeping the spread of the virus low.
"Pre-flight testing means we know the passenger’s health status just before they board the plane."
