A lifeline for air traffic weighed down by the Covid pandemic? That's what European airports, and French ones in particular, are hoping for with the launch of the antigenic tests for the covid detection.
The antigen test is carried out in the same way as a PCR test, using swabs taken from the nostrils. The advantage of this test is that the results are obtained very quickly, as no laboratory analysis is required. In fact, it only detects the proteins of the virus, not its molecules.
The result can be obtained by less than thirty minutes. The only drawback: a reliability slightly inferior to that of PCR tests. But this is improving.
Such a test could save air traffic and partly revive the travel machine. In France, the Union des Aéroports Français UAF reported a 62.9% fall in passenger traffic in the first half of 2020.. If we consider the period marked by the pandemic (from March to the end of August), the fall in traffic reaches 81.1%. This represents the loss of 87 million passengers.
According to Nicolas Paulissen, Managing Director of the Union des Aéroports Français, believes that such tests could first be made available to arriving passengers from high-risk areas..
However, there are a number of reasons for this, Paris airports will also be offering this service to departing passengers. Jean Baptiste Djebbari, Minister Delegate to the Minister for Ecological Transition, with responsibility for Transport, has promised to introduce these antigen tests in French airports, departure and arrival destinations such as Italy and the United States. Only passengers who test negative will be able to board.
The launch is scheduled for 26 October, according to Aéroports de Paris, and follows Marseille airport, a pioneer in these new tests. Nice airport should follow suit. Lyon has also indicated that it is considering offering this test system in the near future.
Initial antigen tests
" Antigen tests may in fact be carried out by pharmacists, doctors and nurses prior to departure. We are still waiting for the regulations to establish a stable framework. This includes the cost and coverage. Once the framework has been established, it is also conceivable that airports could offer tests to departing passengers. But this should be limited to emergency or last-minute cases, to avoid overcrowding the terminals. Airports do not have a medical vocation." says Nicolas Paulissen.
According to the UAF delegate, French airports could offer this service to passengers before the end of the year. However, there remains one major uncertainty. The approval and acceptance of these antigenic tests by all countries. "We can assume that we will first obtain a consensus at European Union level before other countries. This will be essential if the compulsory confinement and quarantine measures are to be lifted. Both kill off any initiative to travel", adds Nicolas Paulissen.
Some airports, such as Milan, Rome and Vienna, already offer these tests.. Extending them to the whole of the European Union would remove the uncertainty for travellers in the face of compulsory quarantines. And revive a dying air transport industry.
(updated on 26 October 8:45am)
