Travel News

BY  Leke Baiyewu, Abuja

The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, has said the Federal Government keeps spending on airports across the country despite planned concession in order to have more bargaining power in negotiating with private investors.

Sirika told the House of Representatives that the government would continue to invest more in infrastructure in the aviation sector while executing its  concession plan.

The minister said this in Abuja on Thursday when he appeared before the House Committee on Aviation, in reaction to questions from lawmakers on expenses.

Sirika had appeared before the committee to defend the ministry’s 2021 budget proposal.

He said, “I think there are a lot of misconceptions about this concession. In the first instance, you can actually build a structure to international standard; very operational, make it very beautiful and then, of course, concession it so that it is run better.”

Mr Aliyu said that Nigeria is currently worried with the rising cases of COVID-19 pandemic across the globe hence the need to enforce the COVID-19 rules during the holiday season.

The Nigerian government through its Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has said that there will be no relaxing of the COVID-19 protocols ahead of the Christmas season.

The coordinator of the PTF, Sani Aliyu, stated this on Thursday in Abuja at the daily briefing of the pandemic.

Mr Aliyu said that Nigeria is currently worried with the rising cases of COVID-19 pandemic across the globe, hence the need to enforce the COVID-19 rules during the holiday season.

While speaking on international travels, the coordinator advised all holiday seekers to suspend their trips and stay in the country as Nigeria would ensure that every incoming passenger would undergo the travel rules in the country.

The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, also advised both incoming and outgoing travelers to suspend their travels if it was not necessary.

Mr Ihekweazu also said that apart from COVID-19, other cases like Ebola, yellow fever are growing in Congo DR and that is why it was important that non essential travels should be suspended.

According to some health experts, there could be a resurgence of the virus if the safety guidelines to curtail its spread are not adhered to.

(NAN)

GRAN CANARIA, Spain (Reuters) - Spain will expand naval patrols around the Canary Islands and set up more migrant centres in response to a surge of arrivals from Africa, including more than 2,000 people last weekend, the regional policy minister said on Friday.

Security forces will add at least three ocean-going vessels, a plane, a helicopter and a submarine to the existing fleet policing the waters between Africa’s west coast and the Spanish archipelago, Carolina Darias told a news conference in Gran Canaria.

Almost 16,000 people have reached the Canary Islands after braving the Atlantic in the dangerous crossing from Africa this year - more than 10 times last year’s total - including 2,213 last weekend.

“The main objective of this government, and of any government, is to avoid anybody risking their life getting aboard one of these boats,” Darias said.

Deepening economic hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic is pushing more people to seek better lives elsewhere, but tighter security on the Mediterranean means more migrants are attempting the Atlantic crossing, with many perishing along the way.

Some 140 people died en route after their boat caught fire and capsized off the coast of Senegal last month.

In parallel, Madrid will increase diplomatic efforts across West Africa and particularly in Morocco, the departure point for most of the Europe-bound boats, to curb the number of departures.

With reception centres across the islands stretched to capacity, nearly 2,000 people have been stranded at Gran Canaria’s Arguineguin port in conditions that an immigration judge described on Thursday as “inhumane and degrading.”

“You can’t stack 1,980 people in 400 squared meters, firstly because they are not cattle, secondly they are human beings and in third place because there are no sanitary conditions to treat them properly,” said Arcadio Diaz Tejera, who ensures that migrants interned at the Las Palmas immigration centre receive proper legal representation.

Minister Darias said local authorities were already working to clear the dockside, while a camp set up at a former military warehouse would soon be able to house up to 800 people.

Several other military sites will soon be converted into migrant centres, she added, without saying how many people they would be able to accommodate.

Reporting by Borja Suarez, Writing by Nathan Allen, Editing by Inti Landauro and Raissa Kasolowsky

Archaeology project also announced for Benin City

BY  Simon Stephens

More details were released this week on plans for a new museum, gallery and research centre in Benin City, Nigeria.

The creation of the Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA), which also includes the gallery and research centre, is linked to an archaeology project that is being carried out with London’s British Museum.

Details of the archaeology project were also announced this week. It is being led by the Legacy Restoration Trust (LRT), a Nigerian not-for-profit organisation. Adjaye Associates, the architect for the museum, is also involved.

The archaeology project, which will investigate the Kingdom of Benin, starts in 2021 and involves a wide range of partners including local communities, the Benin Royal Court, the Government of Edo State, and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments. The LRT, in partnership with the British Museum, has secured the equivalent of $4m of funding for project.

The initiative constitutes early phase work for the building of EMOWAA, which is being developed to house West African art and artefacts. It will include the Royal Collection, the most comprehensive display in the world of Benin Bronzes. The museum will also include galleries dedicated to contemporary art.

“Benin City is an ancient city with an incredible richness of artefacts and ruins that could and should form the bedrock of a centre for research, education in archaeology, art, curation and preservation,” said Godwin Obaseki, the Governor of Edo State.

“The construction of a world-class museum in the historic part of Benin City requires archaeological work to ensure historic remains buried below the ground at the museum construction site are preserved and recorded, and artefacts can be catalogued and preserved for display and to become part of the future collections of the new museum. I believe that this partnership archaeological work will begin to establish world-class archaeological research in Edo State and begin the journey towards the new museum and research centre.”

Architect David Adjaye, said: "From an initial glance at the preliminary design concept, one might believe this is a traditional museum but, really, what we are proposing is an undoing of the objectification that has happened in the West through full reconstruction.

"Applying our research into Benin’s extraordinary ruins, the city’s orthogonal walls and its courtyard networks, the museum design reconstructs the inhabitation of these forms as pavilions that enable the recontextualisation of artefacts. Decoupling from the Western museum model, the EMOWAA will perform as a reteaching tool - a place for recalling lost collective memories of the past to instil an understanding of the magnitude and importance of these civilisations and cultures."

EMOWAA is focused on reuniting Benin art works currently within international collections, as well as investigating and presenting the wider histories that these represent. In addition to directly supporting the building of the new museum, this archaeology project will actively engage with wider debates concerning Benin cultural heritage and the representation of its history.

The open dialogue that this project fosters is designed to create new opportunities to address the significant history of the Kingdom of Benin but also the painful history of the invasion and destruction of Benin City by British forces in 1897 – and to engage in new forms of cultural exchange and understanding.

The EMOWAA and the archaeology project are part of a wider scheme to revitalise the cultural core of Benin City and to aid in the economic revitalisation of the city.

The Kingdom of Benin was one of the most important and powerful pre-colonial states of West Africa. It is known today for its castings in brass and bronze - the Benin Bronzes - as well as objects in other materials, including ivory, coral and wood.

The returnees, who are all males, arrived Nigeria aboard a chartered aircraft belonging to Envelope Airline about 2.30pm.

About 32 Nigerians repatriated from Germany on Thursday arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, from Dusseldorf Airport.

The returnees, who are all males, arrived Nigeria aboard a chartered aircraft belonging to Envelope Airline about 2.30pm.

The deportees were sent back to their home country for committing immigration-related offences, immigration sources said.

Many of the deportees were said to be confused and disoriented on their arrival as their relatives were not aware of their coming and hence nobody was at the airport to receive them.

By Emma Farge

GENEVA (Reuters) - Twenty African migrants are believed to have drowned off the coast of Libya when their boat sank as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, while more bodies washed ashore on Libyan beaches on Friday from a shipwreck earlier this week.

The latest shipwreck, a wooden boat that left from Surman in western Libya, is the fourth this week and brings the total death toll to more than 100 people, an International Organization for Migration spokeswoman said.

Some of the survivors were from Nigeria, Gambia, Ghana and Burkina Faso.

Elsa Laino of Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) said three women had been rescued by local fishermen and were in a state of trauma.

“They saw their family and relatives die in front of them and now they are left alone in a country that is not safe,” she told Reuters.

Aid workers say that worsening treatment of sub-Saharan African migrants in Libya as well as relatively calm seas may have prompted the flurry of departures. Thousands of migrants leave sub-Saharan Africa every year on a perilous journey to Europe as they seek to escape conflict and poverty.

Earlier this week, coastguards and Spanish charity Open Arms were involved in two other rescues where several migrants drowned. A video by Open Arms showed a Guinean mother crying out for her six-month-old baby who died in one of the wrecks.

On Thursday, a rubber dinghy crammed with more than 120 people aboard that had left from the town of Khums capsized.

“Staff in the region reported that more bodies continued to wash ashore overnight,” IOM spokeswoman Safa Msehli told a briefing in Geneva.

Fisherman and the coast guard had earlier recovered 31 bodies from the first wreck, including a toddler.

IOM Chief of Staff Eugenio Ambrosi sent a Tweet on Friday showing a picture of a tattered lifejacket which washed up on a Libyan beach.

“Dusk of humanity,” he said, in an apparent commentary on the insufficient efforts to prevent the loss of life.

Survivors are being held in the city of Khums, Msehli said, calling on authorities to release them and provide protection to prevent them falling into the hands of smugglers and traffickers.

“The worsening humanitarian conditions of migrants detained in overcrowded centres, widespread arbitrary arrests and imprisonment, and extortion and abuse are alarming,” she said.

MSF’s Laino said the lack of search and rescue teams in the Mediterranean was contributing to the high death toll.

More than 900 people have died this year attempting the Mediterranean crossing to reach Europe. Thousands more have been stopped at sea and returned to Libya where they are often vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Angus MacSwan

BY  Chinedu Eze 

There are two key issues stopping more Nigerians from travelling by air. One is low purchasing power of average Nigerian and two is relatively high cost of air ticket. Currently the number of Nigerians that travel by air is lower than one per cent of the projected 200 million population; so if five per cent of the population could travel by air, Nigeria will have very robust air travel market.

Although Nigerian airlines have not connected potential intercity markets like Warri-Port Harcourt, Kano-Enugu, Yola-Kano and other possible destinations, but the major challenge is how air ticket could be affordable to many Nigerians. This issue was raised at the Senate Committee on Aviation public hearing on the amendment of aviation agencies Acts last week by the Managing Director of Overland Airways Limited, Captain Edward Boyo.

He complained that airfares are high because of huge taxes built into the tickets and high cost of operations, including cost of aviation fuel and others. He criticised the proponents of the zoning and classification of airports that suggested that travellers should pay more if they use Lagos airport and pay less if they use Owerri airport, for example, saying that all airports have similar costs.

“We have a population of 200 million, why can’t the common man fly in Nigeria? We talk of zoning airports; respectfully we are not zoning any airport in Nigeria. Every airport has the same goal, with similar cost because we have a centralised airport system unless we are going to dismantle it. “Every Nigerian has a right to travel to his own destination at equal cost; after all, a mobile phone call here is the same price as a mobile to my grandfather in Maiduguri as of today. So we must look at bringing down costs. “Our distinguished Senate needs to address and direct the overwhelming powers of the executive arm of government in a direction favourable to the people.

“The laws you make will shape tomorrow and the future. Let me say this, the National Assembly is the hope of the common man. Airline operators today are suffering, that is why the Senate must ask the executive why are airlines dying in Nigeria? “Over 100 airlines, if am correct, have died in the last few years. So it is good that we are modifying the laws today. It is our hope that these new laws you are going to make will support the existence of the ordinary Nigerians not the existence of us in this room (VIPs) that can afford everything,” Boyo said.

He noted that Nigerian airlines are severely criticised by labour, aviation agencies and their proxies that other Nigerians have developed negative perception of Nigerian carriers. “The body language of this assembly has demonstrated the apathy towards airlines. They see airlines as companies that collect money and don’t remit to the agencies, to the extent that the direction this bill is going or some of the bills we have listened to is to jail airline proprietors for not paying monies that they have not even collected,” he said. He urged that government should review charges in air transport downwards so that the cost of tickets would come down and more Nigerians would be able to travel by air.

“One of the things the upper and the lower chambers of the National Assembly have to look at is the efficiency within these agencies. We are sponsoring and paying for their inefficiencies as well as their efficiencies, translating to bogus cost of operation of our airlines. Without the airlines, many people will not be here today but we are here.

“And what are we giving in return? Nothing. The airlines pay for the ticket five per cent charge to NCAA, we pay five per cent for VAT, we pay N2,000 on every passenger. We pay company income tax, pay education tax, pay navigation and terminal tax, pay security tax; we pay fuel tax, we pay local government tax. The fees just keep going on,” he said.

Boyo warned that more airlines would go under if the aviation agencies and the government continue to charge the airlines high taxes and fees, noting that the founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, Richard Branson who established a subsidiary in Nigeria, Virgin Nigeria Airways, had to leave the country because of unfavourable government policies.

“They want to continue to charge the airlines and they are all dying. Very soon there will be no airlines in Nigeria. Even the planned national carrier, if it is set up to operate in a hostile environment as we have today, it will not survive. Richard Branson came to Nigeria, he has been successful all over the world, but he failed in Nigeria. So there is something in the environment that is killing the airlines,” the Managing Director of Overland Airways said.

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) at the weekend offered clarifications on the criteria adopted by the Federal Government in re-opening airports for international flights.

Its spokesperson, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, said re- opening of international flights does not reside with the authority but the Federal Ministry of Health, which gives approval for restart of international flights in line with the Covid -19 Protocols.

She explained while airports, such as Lagos and Abuja have since resumed international flights in the first phase, following easing of the lockdown and restriction of flights by the Presidential Task Force on Covid -19 pandemic, the Federal Ministry of Health has the mandate to give clearance for international flights at any airport.

She told The Nation it was not FAAN’s responsibility to determine which airports are re- opened but that of the Ministry of Health.

She said: ” Recall that airports are re- opened in phases after the easing of the lockdown and restriction on flights. Lagos and Abuja have since re-opened for international flights. Though Enugu Airport, it is the duty of the Federal Ministry of Health to give approval for the re- opening of any airport for international flights.”

Kano, Enugu and Port Harcourt International Airports are yet to resume international flights.

The encouraging news that pharma giant Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine could be up to 90 per cent effective is a boost that the travel industry so desperately needed.  

However, hurdles remain, from the jab passing further safety tests and being approved for use, to the complex matter of rolling it out on a massive scale. As inoculating entire nations is likely to take a significant amount of time, many countries may ask visitors to prove they have been vaccinated against Covid-19 – an evolution of the increasingly adopted measure of providing evidence of a recent negative test. 

Governments are yet to agree on a standardised way of travellers proving they are Covid-free but, post-vaccine, this could potentially come in the form of a secure digital health passport or ‘vaccine visa’. Advocates argue this would be an efficient and secure way of confirming Covid status and ultimately prevent the spread of the disease across vulnerable, or only partially-vaccinated, populations.  

Here, we map out how these innovations could unlock travel and what technology might be used to help get us travelling again.

Will travel return to ‘normal’ once a vaccine is available? 

The pandemic looks set to alter our travel experience in the most significant way since 9/11, with governments keen to get a clear health profile of arrivals. We’ve already seen a move towards this approach, with many countries requiring arrivals to provide evidence of a recent negative PCR test or take a coronavirus test on arrival. This will likely only increase when a vaccine is deployed and travellers are asked to prove that they have had the jab. Even if the virus ceases to be a major threat, it is likely that health passports will endure due to a heightened focus on infectious diseases and fears of future pandemics.

shift towards digitalisation. Sergio Colella, the Europe boss of tech giant SITA – whose clients include airports, airlines and ground operations all over the world – anticipates that should a vaccine become readily available, digital solutions will play a critical role in alleviating health risks when travelling. This demand for an easily verifiable health profile should accelerate a shift towards digitalisation. Sergio Colella, the Europe boss of tech giant SITA – whose clients include airports, airlines and ground operations all over the world – anticipates that should a vaccine become readily available, digital solutions will play a critical role in alleviating health risks when travelling. 

He says: “The industry will need to respond with a layered approach to border checks so that airports can be fully informed as to whether a passenger has completed the necessary tests or vaccines.” 

“The requirements for a visa would increase to include health declarations, including vaccinations, so that health information can be incorporated into checks, even up to the point of departure. Not only does this help to identify high risk passengers, it also provides all passengers with better clarity to plan their travel.”

He emphasises that efficient digital checks could reassure nervous passengers.

“Combined with low-touch technology in airports, smart border management will be vital in re-establishing passenger trust in order to get the aviation industry back up and running. As passengers seek reassurance about their safety, travel processes will continue transforming to build passenger confidence once more.”  

How can I prove I have been vaccinated?

A number of apps have been built that could be authorised to act as ‘vaccine visas’ of sorts. CommonPass, a digital health pass from non-profit company The Commons Project, has welcomed news of the potential efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine.

“As vaccines become more widely available, many countries will require incoming travellers to show proof of vaccination,” says Dr Brad Perkins, Chief Medical Officer of The Commons Project and former Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

“We built CommonPass to allow sharing of Covid test and vaccine status in a secure way that preserves privacy.” 

The likelihood of vaccination certificates being required is enhanced by the fact that already certain countries already ask for proof of immunity against diseases such as yellow fever. This comes in the form of stamps in the paper-based International Certificate of Vaccination, also known as the 'Yellow Card'.   

Dr Perkins sees this as an imperfect system.  

“Proof of vaccination by the Yellow Card shares many of the challenges inherent in the current sharing of Covid test results, as paper records are harder to confirm and verify.” 

Certainly, there are flaws in how Covid test results for travel are presented. As well as the fact that evidence is frequently shared on pieces of paper – or photos of the paper –  it often comes from unverifiable labs and may be written in languages foreign to those inspecting it. The lack of a standard test result format and certification system leaves room for confusion and even forgery of results.

“Without the ability to trust Covid-19 tests â€“ and eventually vaccine records â€“ across international borders, many countries will feel compelled to retain full travel bans and mandatory quarantines for as long as the pandemic persists,” Dr. Perkins says.  

He adds: “With trusted individual health data, countries can implement more nuanced health screening requirements for entry.”  

Arnaud Vaissié, chief executive and co-founder of International SOS, the company behind the ICC AOKpass, another health app that works in a similar way to CommonPass, agrees that ‘vaccine visas’ are the future.

“As both businesses and consumers alike look to resume international travel, secure digital health passports will become vital to passenger safety and experience.”

 He hopes that the app, which uses secure blockchain technology, will help speed up a return to travel.

“While a potential vaccine is fantastic news, it is not going to be an overnight cure that lets us travel the way we did in 2019. We expect the disruption brought on by the pandemic to be felt throughout and beyond 2021, emphasising the need for digital health passports to verify this crucial information.”

Suggesting that these health apps are likely to become ingrained, he concludes: “It is still unclear how long the immunity will last. People may need to receive an annual booster, in effect making certification even more important.”

When could we see health passports in use?

Providing that vaccines are indeed rolled out from early next year, we could see the apps in wide use soon, though they will need to be internationally recognised to make a real impact. There is some hope this could happen soon:  AOKpass says it has pilot schemes in the pipeline in 130 airports across 18 countries. The app also conducted a successful test results trial in September on Pakistan to Abu Dhabi flights.  

Similarly, CommonPass was recently tested on a flight from New York to London, with passengers scanning QR codes that proved they had recently received a negative coronavirus test result.  

A growing number of countries are requiring negative Covid-19 test results from incoming travellers.

Spain is the latest country to demand pre-travel testing from visitors; starting on 23 November, the most popular nation for British holidaymakers will make a PCR test taken in the 72 hours prior to departure a prerequisite for entry." data-reactid="18" style="margin-bottom: 1em; color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Spain is the latest country to demand pre-travel testing from visitors; starting on 23 November, the most popular nation for British holidaymakers will make a PCR test taken in the 72 hours prior to departure a prerequisite for entry.

The government’s Global Travel Taskforce is set to announce “test-to-release” for arrivals to the UK, allowing the two-week quarantine to be halved for destinations not on the travel corridors list.

But there is widespread confusion and concern about what tests are required, how long they take, and why they may appear to cost much more than those in other countries.

Here are the key questions and answers.

What  Covid-19 tests are there?

Tests for coronavirus look for either the presence of the virus in the body right now, or for a previous response to the virus by your immune system. When more is known about Covid-19, in particular on immunity, an antibody test showing that you have previously been infected may be relevant.

But for now, all the pre-departure testing requirements focus on the present rather than the past.

What is a Covid-19 PCR test

The gold standard, and the standard NHS test, is the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test, in which matter from the back of the throat or the top of the nostrils is swabbed. It is also known as an RNA, genetic, molecular, viral detection or swab test, though these terms can be applied to non-PCR tests.

This sample is then processed to try to detect genetic material in the virus called RNA, which is evidence of the presence of Covid-19. It is a complex and time-consuming process conducted in laboratories, where a solution known as a reagent is added to the sample and the reaction is carried out in a series of alternating temperature steps using a thermal cycler. The idea is to create billions of copies of the RNA to make them detectable.

The “science” part alone typically takes 12 hours, and since samples must be transported to the lab and painstakingly processed, getting a result can take much longer.

What is a LAMP test for coronavirus?

“LAMP” (loop-mediated isothermal amplification) tests use similar swabs, but do not require that expensive and time-devouring thermal cycler. They can be processed on site – which is why Heathrow airport, in conjunction with Swissport and Collinson, has chosen the technique for its testing centres in Terminal 2 and Terminal 5.

The drawback: it is not as accurate as PCR. While proponents say that false positives can be largely eliminated with a second LAMP test, what host countries are concerned about are false negatives – ie travellers turning up who are carrying coronavirus even though they have tested negative.

So PCR tests are the norm. They have been used throughout the coronavirus pandemic by the Channel Island of Jersey, which has been providing them free for arrivals.

When do I have to get the test?

That all depends where you are going. Each country stipulates its own timeframe, usually in the number of hours that are allowed to elapse between the time of the test and your departure to, or arrival at, the destination.

Typically, you are expected to turn up with a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of arrival – as required, among others, by Spain and Barbados. Given the length of a flight to the Caribbean and the airport palaver, that reduces the window for Barbados to around 60 hours before departure.

Can I get a test through the NHS?

No. Tests provided free for the public who are concerned that they may be infected must not be used for the purposes of travel. Conversely, if you fear you may have contracted coronavirus, you should seek an NHS test rather than one that is offered to travellers who are presumed to be negative.

So how do I find one?

If family or friends can recommend a contact, then go for that. You could ask a long-established travel health provider, such as the Fleet Street Clinic in central London, Nomad (with locations in London, Bristol, Cardiff and Manchester) and Masta (which has a presence in dozens of pharmacies).

In addition, there are many other established private health care providers who have set up professional Covid-19 testing programmes. During the research for this article, The Independent has gained insights from Midland Health in Birmingham as well as CityDoc, Doctap, Harley Street Health Centre and London General Practice in the capital.

Be sure to go through a lab approved by Ukas, the UK’s National Accreditation Body. It’s also worth checking reviews if there are any – if a lab is consistently returning results late, customers are likely to vent online. Finally, check the type of test required by the country you’re travelling to as they may have different requirements.

An established, doctor-led practice is likely to be both more professional and more expensive than a new venture that is leading on price. They use the highest grade of medical test available with the best possible accuracy ratings.

They are also aware of the certification the destination requires. The best analogy I have is with passport photographs. Each country has its own stipulation for size and other variables. A professional testing organisation, like a passport photo specialist, will have clear ideas of what is required.

What does the test involve? 

Many people find the swab procedure uncomfortable and unpleasant, though it is over swiftly. The throat swab can make you want to gag, while the nasal swab feels intrusive and alarming. All of which, believe it or not, is desirable. If a health professional conducts the swab, they are highly likely to target material that may contain RNA.

Self-testing kits are available – but there is concern that untrained individuals or their partners may resile from the deep probing that is required.

Nomad has an interesting variant on self-testing, in which a medical professional makes a video call to talk the subject through the test.

How much will it cost?

More than you would like, but as it opens up travel opportunities, tens of thousands of people believe it to be worthwhile.

Going along to a clinic and getting a result within, say, 48 hours, is likely to cost £150-£200 or more. Clinics offer a suite of options, with some bundling in certification and a letter from a doctor confirming your fitness to travel.

Self-test kits posted or sent by courier to your home are cheaper – typically £125 – but come with a number of potential drawbacks. First, the chance of failing to conduct the test; next, the time expended on the delivery process can cut dangerously into the timeframe allowed.

A clinic is also likely to have close relations with the laboratory, which can help when time is of the essence.

Do any countries offer it for free?

Those travelling to Italy can opt to take a free test on arrival instead of getting one beforehand. Travellers will have to self-isolate at their hotel until they get their result (about 24 hours).

Some airports offer rapid testing, with results available in an hour – passengers will be expected to wait at the airport until their result is ready. Smaller airports may not offer testing facilities; arrivals must arrange to be tested elsewhere within 48 hours of entering Italy.

Ras Al Khaima in the UAE is also offering free testing to all international visitors, along with Aruba. Check the FCDO webpage for the country you’re travelling to for information on whether a free test on arrival is offered.

What if I don’t get the result in time?

You run the risk of being denied boarding the flight to your destination, and possibly losing the cost of the trip. Before committing, it is therefore important to talk to the clinic about the timescale and what provisions are in place to deliver the results in good time.

Some offer a “money-back guarantee” – but only for the cost of the test. Getting a refund for a £150 test is little consolation if you have just lost a £1,000 holiday. 

But at a time when lab resources in the UK are working at full stretch, and – in many – NHS tests have to take priority, travellers will have to accept an element of risk on timing for as long as the PCR test remains the required standard. The risk is uninsurable.

I have friends in Italy who pay only €20 for a test and get results within an hour

They are almost certainly getting a different kind of test with a lower success rate. The costs of using a laboratory are high, with the price of reagent rising sharply worldwide. Extending staffing to meet deadlines is also expensive.

When I booked my trip a test wasn’t necessary. Can I get my holiday company or travel insurer to pay for it? 

No. It is always the traveller’s responsibility to meet whatever stipulations the destination puts in place.

The UK government has promised ‘test and release’ to halve quarantine. What testing will be required?

This much-delayed proposal from the Global Travel Taskforce will require private testing. The idea will be that after five or more days of self-isolation, arrivals to the UK will be able to be tested for coronavirus and, if negative, reenter the community.

When will tests get cheaper and less onerous? 

From the travel industry’s perspective, that is the billion-dollar question. A wide range of less intrusive, complex and expensive technologies are available, involving saliva or pinprick blood tests.

Some proponents claiming that they are almost as reliable as PCR tests. Tourism-dependent nations may lower the bar in order to stimulate business and accept less rigorous tests.

Ideally, a quick airport-based test prior to departure will deliver some confidence and pick up most cases; United Airlines is trialling exactly that idea on New York-London flights this month.

The managing director of one leading private clinic told The Independent: “We predict that over time, some airlines and destinations might move towards rapid antigen testing, similar to what is being trialled in Liverpool.”

But while the world waits for international agreement on a test-and-travel protocol, the traveller faces high costs and hassle in order to see at least some of the world.