Wait times for Covid-19 tests at Delhi airport halved

Officials said the drop in turnaround times will also limit a passenger’s potential exposure to the infection inside the airport’s waiting area at Terminal 3.

The number of Covid-19 test centres at the Capital’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport has been increased, a move that officials said will cut wait times for test results in half, from between one and four hours to 30 minutes to 2.5 hours.

Air travellers get themselves registered for Covid-19 tests, at T-3 terminal of Indira Gandhi International Airport, in New Delhi.  (PTI file photo)

Officials said the drop in turnaround times will also limit a passenger’s potential exposure to the infection inside the airport’s waiting area at Terminal 3.

Passengers flying to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be given special preference to get tested at the facility, run by Genestrings Diagnostics Labs, officials confirmed. According to a senior official, the decision has been taken after the guidelines issued by UAE’s National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority (NCEMA) which allowed conditional entry to the travellers from India. Every year, around 400,000 passengers fly to the UAE from Delhi airport.

The facility will have 50 rapid PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing machines, and the firm is looking at doubling the number of units depending on demand. A test will cost ₹5,000 at the centre.