Part One: Pre-departure testing and 'test to release'. (Part Two: Corporate attitudes to 'test to release', will be published next Thursday, 26 November)

In the last seven days Lufthansa and United Airlines have both achieved the landmark of operating Covid-free flights following the introduction of testing trials, while British Airways and American Airlines are poised to launch trials of their own. It¡¯s encouraging progress, but is it enough to get people back onboard?

Assuming that a widely available vaccine will be the silver bullet for restoring some semblance of normality to the travel industry and wider society (and that could be a misplaced assumption), testing airline passengers for Covid is the next best thing. But not just any testing ¨C the focus now is firmly on pre-departure testing.

While testing on arrival can help reduce post-travel quarantine periods (as evidenced by Germany and Italy among others), pre-departure testing is considered more likely to help eliminate self-isolation altogether and pave the way for the opening of specific ¡®high-value¡¯ travel corridors.

Airlines¡¯ testing trials

Lufthansa¡¯s current trial requires all passengers on certain flights between Munich and Hamburg to take a free test for Covid-19 at the airport or provide evidence of a negative PCR test taken less than 48 hours prior to departure. Anyone not wishing to take part can transfer to an alternative flight.

Jost Lammers, chief executive of Munich Airport, said that if appropriate international agreements are reached, ¡°cross-border travel without the quarantine obligation could once again be possible¡±.

United, meanwhile, operated its first Covid-free flight between New York and London this week, with all passengers taking a free, rapid Covid test.

Around 40 passengers were onboard, with one asymptomatic passenger testing positive at Newark airport and denied boarding.

United¡¯s managing director for operations policy & support, Aaron McMillan, said: ¡°We really see predeparture testing as a recipe for success that governments could use to start to relax blanket entry restrictions and quarantine by allowing people to travel more safely.¡±

The airline has been in ¡°very close contact¡± with corporate customers with details of these pilot programmes. McMillan said, ¡°There is a lot of interest in the approach but we need governments to help facilitate getting them in the air. Corporates see lots of promise but they need to see rule changes from governments.¡±

United is continuing the trial on flight UA14 three times a week for the next four weeks.

BA and American¡¯s trial commences next week and involves passengers on selected flights from JFK, Dallas Fort Worth and Los Angeles to London Heathrow voluntarily taking three, free of charge tests at various intervals: one taken pre-departure at home, one on arrival and a third carried out three days after arrival.?

British Airways¡¯ CEO Sean Doyle said: "We know people want to travel but our skies remain all but closed and the UK is being left behind. Major economies like Germany are adopting testing to replace quarantine.

"We need the UK government to introduce a system that allows travellers to take reliable, affordable tests before departure, so they are confident that fellow passengers are Covid-free. For people arriving from countries with high infection rates, a further test on arrival should then release them from quarantine.¡±

Results from all the trials will be shared with national governments. Passengers testing negative will not be exempt from UK quarantine on arrival.

Speaking at the Westminster?Energy, Environment and Transport Forum this week, Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, said an international pre-departure testing regime, removing the need for any quarantine on arrival, is the ¡°ideal and, in the long-term, only sustainable test system for aviation¡±.

He added: ¡°The government needs to use the implementation of day five testing [¡®test to release¡¯] as a stepping stone to establishing and participating in such a system.¡±

Cities Restart, a new venture dedicated to helping UK cities¡¯ economic recovery, was more strident.

¡°We are a trading nation, on the verge of leaving the world¡¯s largest trade block. It¡¯s incredible that the British government is leaving it to our airlines and airports to develop their own testing,¡± says managing director Derek Ray-Hill.

¡°It¡¯s welcome news to see airlines such as British Airways taking the lead on testing, but they shouldn¡¯t have to.?Leaving it to airlines alone to develop their own testing is a dereliction of duty.¡±

Test to release

The aforementioned ¡®test to release¡¯ scheme could be introduced when England¡¯s second national lockdown ends on 2 December.?

It will consist of a single test for arrivals into the UK, provided by the private sector and at the cost of the passenger, ¡°allowing a much-reduced period of self-isolation,¡± said transport secretary Grant Shapps recently.

¡°Beyond the lockdown, this should encourage many more people to book flights with confidence knowing there is an option that allows them to shorten self-isolation.¡±

The government¡¯s Global Travel Taskforce has also been working with ¡°partner countries¡± to consider pre-departure self-isolation and testing options.

Business travel, which has been allowed to continue during England¡¯s current lockdown, could receive a desperately needed boost from ¡®test to release¡¯ while pre-departure testing trials continue, although the jury is out.

¡°If this testing programme goes ahead from 2 December, then we would definitely welcome it as a step in the right direction, but much would still depend on the actual details and logistics,¡± says Marcus Eklund, global managing director,?FCM Travel Solutions.

¡°Nevertheless, we are cautiously optimistic that this would encourage many of our customers to resume business travel and in particular give travellers greater confidence to plan and book a trip.¡±

Scott Davies, chief executive of ITM, adds: ¡°Travel buyers welcome any system or process that facilitates a return to business travel.¡±

As one travel manager told BTN Europe, they believe the scheme will help get more business travellers back on the road but questioned whether corporates would pay for optional tests unless travel is deemed essential.

Part Two, addressing buyer attitudes to 'test to release', will be published next Thursday, 26 November