Dublin Airport is opening two COVID-19 testing facilities. Passengers and the general public will have the option of either a drive-through test or a walk-in test.
The facilities will be operated by healthcare firms Randox and RocDoc, and both polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) testing will be available, with prices ranging from €99 to €159.
The sites will initially have the capacity for up to 12,000 tests per day, which will soon be increased to 15,000.
Vincent Harrison, Managing Director, Dublin Airport, said: “We have been keen to provide testing at Dublin Airport for some time and the Government’s recent decision to grant planning exemption, which we strongly welcome, will enable two testing facilities to open this Thursday.”
The airport says that there is a demand for travel-related COVID testing, as several countries now require arriving passengers to have had a negative COVID test result prior to travel. Testing is also one of the elements of the new European Union/European Economic Area traffic light system for travel, which has been adopted by Ireland and other European countries.
“We have significant capacity in place to implement high volume PCR testing, which is currently the only method of COVID-19 testing recognised and approved by every country worldwide,” said Sophie Boyd, Project Manager for Randox’s testing service at Dublin Airport.
RocDoc Chief Executive David Rock said the company had been working with Dublin Airport for more than two months in relation to the new facility and was “pleased to get the go ahead” to begin. “We will be installing a category two laboratory and testing facility, which will be able to process over and above the expected tests per day,” Rock added.
Harrison said the opening of dedicated COVID-19 testing facilities at Dublin Airport was “a very positive step to help people travel safely and meet emerging rules both at home and abroad.” However, he added that ultimately “Ireland needs a rapid low-cost COVID-19 testing system for travel similar to those being trialled and used in other countries using Antigen testing”.
Randox’s walk-through facility will be located in an existing building close to the Terminal 2 multi-storey car park and will have separate entry and exit points for customers. RocDoc’s drive-through facility will be located in the Express Green car park, which is accessed via the R132 (Old Airport Road).
All customers will need to pre-book their test online in advance through the healthcare companies. Links to the booking portals will also be available on the Dublin Airport website.
