As Lufthansa looks to expand Covid-19 testing for passengers, the carrier plans to make faster testing options a "premium service," according to a Lufthansa executive.
Speaking on a web call to media on Tuesday, Lufthansa Group senior director of product management and ground and digital services Bjoern Becker said the carrier plans to introduce antigen testing for the virus to passengers next month. Unlike Polymerase Chain Reaction testing, antigen testing can be processed outside of a lab, making results available within 15 minutes or so, compared with several hours for a PCR test, he said.
Initially, however, the amount of antigen tests available will be limited, so in the first weeks they likely will be available only to premium customers, according to Becker.
"People who really need to fly often, once or twice a month, will need to have the fast test," Becker said. "If I go on holiday, it's not that tough for me if I need to wait six hours for results just once in a year."
While antigen tests are faster, they also have a higher chance of missing active infections, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Lufthansa has been working with Centogene to provide airport Covid-19 testing in Frankfurt and Hamburg and on Wednesday expanded testing to Düsseldorf. The Frankfurt testing center already has a Fast Lane for Business Class, First Class and HON Circles Members and Senators. The carrier has testing in Munich as well, and Becker said it plans to expand further, including to airports in the United States and Canada.