COVID-19 test centre at Brussels Airport to open on 14 September

The Test Centre at Brussels Airport where travellers can get themselves tested for COVID-19 will open on Monday 14 September. Thanks to this Test Centre, passengers have the opportunity to get a COVID-19 test on-site at the airport. The Test Centre will also be open to those who are not travelling but need to have a test taken within the scope of contact tracing.

As of the 14^th of September, it is possible to have yourself tested for COVID-19 in the Test Centre at Brussels Airport. The Test Centre at the airport will open at 6 am for the first passengers. Brussels Airport has made the testing facility possible to help protect public health and as a service to its passengers.

“We took the initiative to put up a test centre at the airport to further strengthen our sanitary measures against COVID-19 and thus contribute to protecting public health. The test results will be rapidly communicated to the passengers. Testing is an essential element to allow the aviation industry, and the economy in general, to gradually get out of the current crisis without compromising the health and safety of the public.”, says Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport Company.

As of Monday, passengers who are returning from a red area and who already received a corona test prescription code can get themselves tested immediately upon their arrival at the airport. In a second phase, when the on-site lab is operational at the airport (end of September), departing passengers too will be able to get a test. Passengers who e.g. are travelling to a country that requires a negative COVID-19 test certificate will be able to obtain this certificate at the airport. Persons who are not travelling but need to get a test following a contact tracing and who consequently dispose of an activation code, will then also be welcome at the Test Centre.

Rapid analyses in an accredited lab

The Test Centre is operated by Ecolog as logistics partner, in collaboration with the Eurofins-Lab of Van Poucke. In a first phase, the results will be processed externally. By the end of September, the mobile lab at Brussels Airport will be ready and the tests can be processed on-site, making the results available even faster. The Van Poucke clinical lab is accredited by the Belgian Accreditation body BELAC for analysing the tests.

The tests carried out are PCR tests for which a nasal swab sample is to be collected. The results will be available within 24 hours. As soon as the laboratory at Brussels Airport is ready, the results of a rapid test will be available within 3 hours, those of the standard test within 9 hours.

Persons who are returning from a red area or who have to get tested as part of contact tracing and who, in both cases, have received an activation code for a test, can have themselves tested at the NIHDI rate of 46.81 euro and will not have to pay for the test as payment is settled directly between the NIHDI and the Test Centre. In case of a voluntary test for departing passengers who do not have an activation code or prescription, the standard PCR test will cost 67 euro, whereas a rapid PCR will cost 135 euro.

The Test Centre is open seven days a week, including on Sundays and holidays, from 03:30 to 24:00. People who wish to get tested, are advised to make an online appointment through https://brusselsairport.ecocare.center/ to avoid queues. The test results will be sent to the passenger by e-mail and will only be transferred to Sciensano. The airport operator itself has no access whatsoever to the results.

Brussels Airport, 11 September 2020