Airport Covid tests won’t work, says Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has dismissed calls for airport Covid tests as ‘a complete waste of time’.
"It’s too late, it takes too long and what do you do when you have a couple of people with positive tests in the middle of an airport terminal, empty the airport?" he asked.
Instead, he said Ryanair supports PCR testing but admitted the cost of up to €180 a head was prohibitive. He said governments should provide tests free of charge, which would cost ‘a fraction of the amount of lockdowns’.
He said Europe has the capacity to test 10% to 20% of its population every week, which he said would ‘free us from a potential third lockdown in the spring’ before a potential vaccine arrives.
"People should be coming to airports with negative tests and then actually, certainly in shorthaul, we can go back to flying with reasonable confidence and reasonable security; longer haul will be a bit of a longer recovery but certainly shorthaul and intra-European travel should start up quickly."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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