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Dublin airport could introduce pre-flight Covid-19 tests “in a few days” if it gets the go-ahead from the government, according to the executive director of the state-owned company responsible for the Republic’s largest gateway.
Cork, Dublin and Shannon airports want the government to pass Covid inspection prior to departure to break a deadlock that has stalled air travel and bring the Republic in line with measures being introduced elsewhere in The EU.
Dalton Philips, executive director of DAA, responsible for Cork and Dublin, told the Oireachtas Joint Transport Networks and Communications Committee that the capital’s airport could have a test facility in days, but needs a government order exempting from the need to obtain planning permission.
“We could be up and running in a matter of days, but we need that planning,” he emphasized.
Laws passed to help the state contain the pandemic allow any government minister to sign an order allowing Covid testing centers to be set up where they are needed without first having to obtain planning permission.
DAA confirmed earlier this month that it had already contracted providers willing to conduct pre-flight tests at Dublin and Cork airports.
It is increasingly likely that other EU countries will require travelers arriving in their jurisdictions to show that they have tested negative for the virus.
However, Mr. Philips warned that confusion surrounded the Government’s approach to this, as his plans indicated that the Republic could accept negative pre-departure Covid tests for people arriving from Europe, without approving the same system for the Irish.
Antigen tests
Rapid tests use swabs to detect antigens, which activate a person’s immune system when the virus infects them, rather than testing for the virus itself, which is slower and more expensive.
The government has yet to endorse the use of antigen tests, despite a recommendation from the Health Information and Quality Authority that they be used here.
The EU’s proposed safe travel framework recommends that member states use tests for travelers from regions with higher rates of Covid infection to allow them to avoid quarantines and other restrictions.
However, the government has yet to clarify how it will implement this. Currently, those arriving here from elsewhere in the EU are being asked to self-isolate for 14 days.
Ivan Bassato, executive vice president of airport management at Aeroporti di Roma, said airports in the Italian capital had been using antigen testing successfully since last month.
Philips said DAA was likely to lose 200 million euros this year, while letting 750-800 workers go through voluntary redundancy. “We returned to the levels of 1995, we have lost 25 years of traffic growth,” he warned.
Cork and Shannon airports will receive € 10 million from the government in 2021. Mary Considine, CEO of the state-owned Shannon Group, whose businesses include the airport, warned it would need more support. He also stressed that testing had to be the way forward for the industry.
Mr. Philips said the government needed to decide whether it would require travelers to the Republic to undergo Covid tests before flying here or upon arrival, and whether it would favor faster detection rather than slower and more expensive tests.
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