Skytrax: Difference in price of PCR tests at world airports reaches $400

A research conducted by Skytrax found a $396 price difference between the highest and lowest costs for standard PCR testing at various airports around the world, Report informs referring to Skytrax website.

Whilst many airports do not offer any on-site PCR testing, the study covered the published fees of 77 airports that provide testing services for departing passengers and covers airports in Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America.

It is important to note that in some countries the testing rate is fixed by the national government and may be subsidized. Similarly, there is a varied policy on taxation of testing, and in the UK, for example, 20 percent of the fee charged is the government VAT tax.

Kansai International Airport in Japan has the highest pricing with a standard processing fee of $404, with the lowest cost being for domestic departing customers travelling from Mumbai Airport who can access PCR testing for just $8.

In Europe, Riga Airport was the cheapest at $44, with many German airports charging around $80, and in the UK, the airport PCR tests vary between $82 and $135.

Many US airports do not currently offer on-site PCR test facilities, but amongst those that do, Ft Lauderdale Airport is the cheapest at $106, through to San Francisco International Airport charging $261.

Among the CIS countries, the lowest tariffs are set in Minsk - $15 and in the capital of Kazakhstan Nur-Sultan - $20.

At both Kyiv airports - Boryspil and Kyiv - laboratories offer to take the test for $40.

At the higher end of PCR test costs, most of the airports are in developed markets where factors such as infrastructure, staff, and laboratory costs are high, and some testing providers also report difficulty in achieving the necessary economies of scale due to the restrictions placed on international travel, where testing is generally needed.

While the airport testing infrastructure has developed significantly in the last 6 months, the pricing, speed, and convenience of the process in most countries are likely to remain a substantial deterrent to large scale international travel for many customers.

Apart from the substantial price differential between the highest and lowest PCR test costs, standard processing times are highly variable, and the required timeframe for results differs per country (eg. 24/48/72/96 hours) and even the terminology for test names can vary from country to country.

There is a catalogue of tests available (PCR, antigen, lateral flow, LAMP, Nucleic Acid Amplification) plus many others for which the requirements per country are yet to be standardized.

A smaller number of airports offer Rapid Antigen Tests, and of the selection available shown below, the costs range from a high end of $214 at Helsinki Vantaa Airport through to the cheapest of $2 being charged at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.