London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

British Airways to trial Covid-19 tests on passengers

British Airways to trial Covid-19 tests on passengers

Passengers will be tested 72 hours before departure, on arrival at Heathrow and three days later.

British Airways passengers will be tested for coronavirus in a bid to prove the UK’s quarantine policy should be scrapped.

The airline announced it will trial a voluntary testing regime in partnership with American Airlines which will involve hundreds of travellers on selected routes from the US to Heathrow.

Passengers will be tested 72 hours before departure, as well as on arrival at the west London airport, and three days later.

British Airways said it will share the results of the project with the UK and US governments.

It hopes the data will demonstrate that a single test 72 hours before a flight is “robust” enough to replace the requirement for international travellers arriving in the UK to self-isolate for 14 days.


Passengers who take part in the pilot will still be required to follow existing quarantine rules, even if they receive negative results for all three tests.

The pilot begins on November 25 for flights from New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.

Other carriers may join the scheme in the coming weeks.

Customers who test positive for the virus will be able to reschedule their travel free of charge.

Sean Doyle, who was appointed chief executive of British Airways last month, said there have been “very minimal reports” of transmission of coronavirus on commercial flights, and insisted that air travel is “safe”.

He claimed the UK is being “left behind” as countries such as Germany adopt testing to replace quarantine requirements.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps launched a taskforce last month to develop methods of reducing the 14-day self-isolation period with a “test and release regime” which would still involve a self-isolation period of at least a week.

Mr Doyle said that would be insufficient for air travel to return to 2019 levels.

“It doesn’t quite cut it,” he told reporters.

“Without a pre-flight testing regime, we will be locked in a stop-start cycle where consumers are unclear about what the rules of the game are, and won’t be in a position to travel with confidence.”

Changes to the Government’s list of destinations exempt from the quarantine requirement are usually announced just 35 hours before the new rules come into force.

Recent “great news” about coronavirus vaccines “shouldn’t get in the way of us actually dealing with the issues we need to deal with now”, Mr Doyle said.

“We have the availability of testing in a way that doesn’t actually take away from the testing capacity of the health providers.

“We’ve got facilities set up at Heathrow.

“So the solution is staring us in the face. I just think we need clarity of policy.

“We can create certainty and we can create a framework within which people can travel and within which the economy can open up.”


Arrivals at Heathrow Airport


Transatlantic flights are key to the success of British Airways.

Prior to the pandemic, British Airways and American Airlines flew up to 111 flights a week from London to New York, but this has dropped to just 14.

British Airways’ parent company IAG swung to a pre-tax loss of 6.2 billion euros (£5.6 billion) for the nine months to the end of September.

This compared with a 2.3 billion euros (£2.1 billion) pre-tax profit during the same period a year ago.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
×