Virgin Atlantic has announced that it is the first UK airline to introduce Covid-19 pre-flight testing at its Heathrow base for its cabin crew and pilots.
Already launched on flights to Shanghai and Hong Kong, the airline plans to extend the trial to Barbados and select services later in October, before a wider roll out to test every operating crew at least once per month.
In partnership with GeneMe UK, official distributor of the Frankd test, the test process is fast, secure, paperless and does not require a lab.
After a swab is taken on site, results are processed and delivered on the Yoti app within 30 minutes.
The airline also continues call for UK and US governments to introduce a pre departure testing solution to remove quarantine and minimise travel restrictions, in order to open up the skies, support economic recovery and protect 500,000 UK jobs reliant on travel and tourism