London Heathrow airport has reopened its Terminal 4 as a ‘dedicated red list terminal to process arrivals from UK-Government designated ‘red list’ countries. Travellers arriving from these countries are obliged to quarantine.
Terminal 4 reopened this afternoon at 1500, and allows the airport to “maintain stringent anti-viral measures, designed to protect passengers and colleagues and reduce the risk of transmission.”
Terminal 4 will act as a separate arrivals facility, keeping direct red list arrivals away from passengers in all other operational terminals. It also processes indirect passengers, according to a spokesperson for the airport. Heathrow says that “This safety first approach delivers a more efficient journey for all passengers, alongside a multiple layered approach that will keep passengers and colleagues safe – including mandatory requirement of face coverings, intensive robotic cleaning regimes across the airport, enhanced ventilation in immigration halls and COVID.”
Heathrow Chief Operating Officer, Emma Gilthorpe at Heathrow said: “We are supportive of measures that protect public health and prevent the spread of COVID. The rapid introduction of restrictions for international travel will nonetheless be a further significant blow for British exporters and those wanting to visit friends and relatives. Keeping the changes under constant review and a Government commitment to the removal of red list countries, as soon as it is safe to do so, will help. Heathrow maintains the highest levels of COVID-secure measures to ensure our passengers, colleagues and partners know that Heathrow is a safe place to travel to and from.”
For those arriving from countries not on the red list, PCR testing is now a requirement and the airport is promoting the PCR testing facilities either on or close to the airport.
