Singapore Airlines’ passengers travelling
from London can now book a pre-departure Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction
(RT-PCR) test via a dedicated online booking portal, operated
by testing provider Collinson.
This makes the UK the fourth
Singapore Airlines market, after Singapore itself, Indonesia and Hong Kong, to be
able to access 36-hour turn-around pre-departure tests, as part of an ongoing
pilot in partnership with Collinson.
Tests can be carried out at six
UK airports or at the O2 Arena and cost £99. Passengers receive their test results through the portal within 36
hours and are provided with a digital certificate and a QR code that is to be
presented to airport staff upon check-in.
IATA, meanwhile, has reported
a "successful implementation" following the first full deployment of its Travel Pass
platform with the carrier. The airline has completed its first flight to London
with travellers using the platform, in which travellers can verify
requirements, book testing and receive results.
"Airlines understand that their ground operations
will grind to a halt if they have to manage Covid-19 travel requirements—test
results or vaccine certifications—with paper documentation," IATA SVP of
airport, passenger and security Nick Careen said in a statement. "This
real-life proof of concept should give all governments confidence that industry
has a workable digital solution that will ease the pressure of incorporating
health certificate checks into the travel process, including at borders."
The carrier said that if the pilot
programmeis successful, it will pave the way for the integration of the entire
digital health verification process into the carrier’s
mobile app from around mid-2021, based on IATA’s Travel Pass framework.