Wizz Air to offer discounted Covid-19 tests
Budget airline Wizz Air is offering passengers discounted Covid-19 tests and fit to fly certificates from Friday.
Passengers who need a negative test for foreign travel or to reduce their quarantine in England can get a PCR swab test and certificate for £85.
The mail order tests are provided by Confirm Testing, which usually charges £119 for both the test and certificate.
From 15 December, travellers arriving in England from countries not on the government’ travel corridor list will be released early from their 14-day quarantine if they have a negative Covid test taken on day five.
The government says they must pay for private tests as they won’t be given access to free NHS tests.
Wizz says its customers will be able to cut the cost of private tests – which can be more than £200 – using its discount code with Confirm Testing.
However, Wizz has not confirmed that the company will be one of the approved testing centres on the government’s yet-to-be-published list.
The Confirm Testing kits will include a collection bottle containing saline and a swab, protective packing wallet, a clear specimen bag to seal the sample, sample label, request form, and a return envelope with prepaid shipping.
For customers requiring a negative test result 72 and 96 hours before travelling, kits can be ordered weeks in advance of a flight and kept at home, says Wizz.
Customers should order tests at least five days before their flight and then perform and return the test via Royal Mail four days before. The test sample will arrive at the laboratory three days before the flight and will be analysed to internationally-recognised ISO 17025 standards, according to the airline.
The day before the flight, test results are returned and if purchased, a Fit to Fly certificate is issued for negative test results.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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