Exclusive | How Hong Kong coronavirus testing lab plans to help Cathay Pacific, other airlines revive international travel
- Testing ‘critical’ for more planes to take-off, Prenetics CEO says
- Public hospitals, private hospitals and private laboratories ‘will all need to be part of the solution’
Hong Kong-based genetics testing company Prenetics is in talks with government officials and airlines, including Cathay Pacific, to help make travel safer and rev up economic activity.
South Korea and China opened one such bubble on May 1 for business travellers between Korea and 10 Chinese regions on fast-track entry, provided they test negative for Covid-19 before departure and after arrival. Meanwhile, Macau and its neighbouring mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai have recognised each other’s health code system for individuals crossing their border since May 10.
“Once the initial travel bubbles are no issue … they may extend them,” Yeung said.
Domestic travel is steadily rebounding, followed by short-haul international travel, and then long-haul flights, said analysts.
Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines are particularly vulnerable to the slowdown, given their near-total reliance on international flights, said researchers at investment bank Goldman Sachs. In a report dated May 21, it forecast next year’s traffic at 5 per cent below 2019’s level for Cathay Pacific, and 2 per cent below 2019 for Singapore Airlines. “Cathay is in one of the most difficult positions in our Asian airlines’ coverage given the Covid-19 outbreak, due to its exposure to international traffic, which we expect to recover more slowly than domestic, and where we see larger downside risks,” the Goldman analysts said.
A Cathay Pacific spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for information about the airline’s plans to roll-out testing for Covid-19 among crew and passengers.
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“As countries globally look to restart their economy, travel will be of top priority,” said John Riady, CEO of Lippo Karawaci and director of the Lippo Group, an investment company controlled by the Riady family.
“However, it must be safe to travel and I do believe Covid-19 testing will be the key component so that travellers and flight crews feel safe to do so. It’s really amazing to see Prenetics playing such a major role on an international front to help to get lives back to normal,” added Riady, one of Prenetics’ earliest investors.
Prenetics leapt to international attention on May 8, when it announced it had struck a deal with the Premier League to test players. As of Sunday, it had detected eight players and staff who were positive for Covid-19, all them asymptomatic and now in self isolation.
“As we begin to open up the economy and the borders, testing will become even more crucial,” said Yeung, an erstwhile venture capitalist and former CEO of Groupon East Asia.
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Hong Kong flagship airline Cathay Pacific hit with financial trouble amid coronavirus outbreak
Prenetics, backed by funds affiliated with China’s Alibaba Group Holding, PingAn Insurance Group and Indonesia’s Lippo Group, is working on the logistics of testing airport personnel, as well as providing test kits for passengers. “We’ve been discussing with a few major airlines and we’re close to signing some major agreements … to provide testing for their flight attendants, ground crew and pilots,” he said.
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A negative Covid-19 test result would be an important component of this certificate. “If that does become a reality, then I think we will play a role to help individuals with an easy solution to get tested, so that you are able to provide a negative result that allows you to depart Hong Kong safely,” Yeung said.
For its part, Prenetics will send deep throat saliva test kits to travellers’ homes, pick up the tests and send the results via email the next business day. The test results will be valid for a specific period that still needs to be agreed upon by governments and airlines.
“The best thing is, of course, to do a test every day, but that’s not practical,” he said. “Once a week could be a good start.” If the results expire while the traveller is still abroad, they will need to be retested before their return flight.
Prenetics is in talks with senior government officials and airline industry executives to figure out the finer points of the logistics to make this happen. “It has to be a private-public collaboration,” Yeung said. “No government, by itself, can solve such a massive problem.”
There are a handful of precedents for Prenetics to draw upon, as it collaborates with airlines and governments about the practicalities of mass testing. Truck drivers are already providing negative coronavirus test results from privately owned laboratories before crossing the border into Hong Kong from mainland China.
Vienna Airport already offers Covid-19 testing at the airport by a private company for about €190 (US$207). Passengers wait at the airport for the results that are available within three to six hours.
Governments will, of course, bump up against constraints to testing people en masse, such as laboratory time and staff. Public hospitals, private hospitals and private laboratories will all need to be part of the solution.
“Travel is essential, and it will restart one bit at a time,” Yeung said.
