Airlines have been taking matters into their own hands in an attempt to restart travel and make it as simple for passengers. Today British Airways have announced that they will be trialling the latest rapid test to be approved in the UK that takes an incredible 25 seconds to do. This could be something that is easily done prior to travel at the airport, and hopefully, it’s not too expensive either.
British Airways is the first airline in the world to conduct a trial with medical tech company Canary Global, to assess how its Pelican Covid-19 Ultra Rapid Covid-19 test, which displays a result within 25 seconds, can play a role in opening up travel.
The airline will be inviting flight and cabin crew to take the Pelican Covid-19 test and will compare the performance of the result against existing tests that they are already taking. Recently approved for use in Europe and UK, the test is currently going through U.S. FDA approval and the airline is the first in the world to trial the new technology. Subject to successful evaluation the airline hopes to be able to offer the test technology on applicable routes where tests have to meet the stated specificity and sensitivity standards.
The test is a non-invasive saliva ultra-rapid digital antigen test that delivers 98% sensitivity and 100% specificity in symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals with SARS-CoV-2. Users simply take a sample of their saliva into a disposable sensor unit, shake and insert it into a re-usable digital reader which is connected to a blue-tooth enabled device like a smartphone, and then wait for the results that appear through a mobile app. The test which probes for both the S and N SARS-Cov-2 protein is optimized to detect variants that have originated across the globe.
Sean Doyle, British Airways’ Chairman and CEO, said: “As we start to see the opening up of travel we remain committed to exploring easy and affordable testing solutions to help our customers travel again, whether it’s for business, to reunite with family and friends or take a much-needed break abroad. We think this new ultra-rapid test is a game changer so we are delighted to work with the team at Canary to begin initial trials with our flight and cabin crew, before exploring what role it could play as a customer testing option.”
Canary Global is in discussions with other travel, hospitality, and event organisers around the world to help them safely open up with the Pelican ultra-rapid Covid-19 test. The test could also help to safely open up other business and schools. Canary is currently ramping up its production to meet the global demand.
2 comments
Aside for CC/ Flight Deck then tbh I don’t really see any point in a test that gives results in seconds and even then i’m struggling. The rapid lateral flow test’s you can get free off the government have a 30 min turn around time and anyone can wait that long without exception.
If gov’s the world over were looking to use these as a ‘test on arrival’ solution then great but in the private sector I don’t see any value
The trouble with the lateral flow tests that are free is (a) they’re not valid for travel probably because (b) the accuracy of the test (too many false negatives / false positives) is not of a good enough standard. If this test proves to be reliably accurate then I can see there being a place for it. However, it needs to be of the standard of a PCR test, not of the lateral flow to have any value.
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