There is good news for the tourism industry in Ireland, as two COVID-19 testing facilities are set to open at Dublin Airport from 19 November. These new testing facilities will be operated by healthcare firms Randox and RocDoc, with passengers and consumers being offered the option of either a drive-through test or a walk-in test.
The top priority of Fáilte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority, is to see Ireland’s tourism and business tourism industries survive, re-open safely and recover. The establishment of new COVID-19 testing facilities at our nation's largest airport is a positive step on the road to recovery for international travel here in Ireland.
There has been an increased demand for travel-related COVID testing, as several countries now require arriving passengers to have had a negative COVID-19 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.
Get tested at Dublin Airport
Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison 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.”
Mr 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”.
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.”
Dubin Airport has significant capacity in place to implement high volume polymerise chain reaction (PCR) testing, which is currently the only method of COVID-19 testing recognised and approved by every country worldwide.
Supporting the traffic light system
Last week, the Government adopted the EU traffic light system on travel, within which specific regions are independently designated as Green, Orange or Red by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (EDCD) depending on the level of cases in those areas.
There are no restrictions on travel from a Green area to another country within the system. Each EU member state can set its own rules in relation to how it deals with arriving passengers from Orange and Red areas.
The Irish Government has said that passengers arriving from an Orange region should restrict their movement for 14 days unless they have a negative/not-detected result from a COVID-19 PCR test taken no more than three days before their day of departure. At the moment, any passengers arriving from a Red region are requested to restrict their movements for 14 days.
From midnight on 29 November, arriving passengers from Red regions will not have to continue to restrict their movements if they have a negative/not-detected result from a COVID-19 PCR test taken at least five days after arrival in Ireland.
Any passengers who are required to take a COVID-19 test for travel to another country should familiarise themselves with the requirements of the country in question in relation to testing. Each country sets its own rules in relation to which tests it recognises.
Prices
Prices for testing at Dublin Airport will start at €99 and both PCR and LAMP testing will be available. The testing facilities are fully open to the public, whether they require a test for travel or for another reason.
All customers will need to pre-book their test online in advance and this can be done directly with the healthcare company in question. Links to the booking portals will also be available on the Dublin Airport website. The healthcare providers that are working with Dublin Airport have testing capacity of more than 12,000 tests per day if needed and this will shortly be expanded to 15,000.
Pricing*
Randox (Walk-through service)
PCR test: €99 with results in 24-48 hours
RocDoc (Drive-through service)
PCR test: €129 with results in 24-48 hours
LAMP test: €149 with results in 12 hours
LAMP test express: €159 with results in 5 hours
*Prices are set by the companies in question.
Further information
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). Both facilities will be clearly signposted.
The State is advising that consumers “exercise a high degree of caution” if travelling to countries covered by the EU traffic light system. The advice for other countries is to “avoid non-essential” travel and to check official advice.
During these times, Fáilte Ireland is offering financial support to help you bring delegates to Ireland when it is safe to do so. Find out more about the supports available for corporate meetings, incentive programmes and association conferences or book a one-on-one chat with a Meet in Ireland team member by filling out our contact form.