A Japanese airport does it for an eye watering $404 – Check out the most expensive and the cheapest airports for a Covid test – An Indian airport charges a meagre $8

kansai international airport


With the dark shadow of the Coronavirus getting lifted slowly, leisure travel may soon become a reality. Countries like France, Singapore, and others are already exploring the idea of a Covid passport which gives ‘quarantine free’ access to those who have successfully vaccinated. Along with a vaccine passport a mandatory requirement would be a negative PCR test. While the test is universal its prices are far from universal. Just like the Big Mac index and the Apple index which tracks the pricing of a Big Mac and Apple products pricing in different countries there may be something like a Covid test index. Skytrax a renowned company which rates airlines and airports has done an extensive study of the fees of PCR tests 77 airports across the world and the results are surprising. SkyTrax does mention that some countries have a fixed a standard rate for the test and some subsidise and some on the other hand also tax the tests, for eg – the UK govt imposes a hefty 20% vat on all the tests.

san Francisco international airport

The most expensive airport in the world for a PCR test is Kansai International in Japan which charges $404. At $279, San Francisco is the most expensive airport in the USA, other American airports like New York’s JFK charges $179 and the cheapest being Fort Lauderdale at $106.

Also read -  Inside a Japanese sightseeing train whose interiors are designed like a traditional Kyoto house

riga airport

Europe has an even more contrasting difference with Helsinki airport charging $317 and Latvia’s Riga airport doing the same test for $44.

mumbai airport

With Mumbai’s airport doing the test for a meagre $8, it makes Asia home to the most expensive and cheapest airports on the planet for a PCR test.

Maybe for a year or two we will have to factor in the cost of these tests in our holiday plans. Check out the rates at all the airports below.

Amsterdam airport

Airport PCR test (prices in USD)
Kansai 404
Helsinki 317
Stockholm 295
Tokyo Narita 275
San Francisco 261
Nagoya Centrair 256
New York JFK 179
Copenhagen 168
Zurich 162
Amsterdam 154
Munich 152
Chicago O’Hare 145
Luxembourg 142
Oslo 142
Warsaw 136
East Midlands 135
London City 135
London Luton 135
Manchester 135
London Stansted 135
Los Angeles 125
Singapore 120
Dublin 118
Vienna 118
Birmingham 110
Edinburgh 110
Glasgow 110
London Heathrow 110
Ft Lauderdale 106
Vilnius 95
Rome Fiumicino 83
Prague 83
Berlin 82
Cologne 82
Dusseldorf 82
Frankfurt 82
Hamburg 82
London Gatwick 82
Brussels 80
Bogota 77
Athens 71
Seoul Incheon 71
Malaga 69
Madrid 69
Palma Mallorca 69
Hong Kong 64
Denpasar Bali 61
Sao Paulo 61
Jakarta 54
Muscat 50
Riga 44
Cape Town 42
Johannesburg 42
Dubai 41
Kyiv Zhuliany 40
Kyiv Boryspil 40
Almaty 36
Istanbul 33
Moscow DME 30
Hurghada 30
Sharm El Sheikh 30
Rostov-on-Don 26
Koltsovo 24
Moscow SVO 23
Kuromoch 22
Nursultan 20
Tokyo Haneda 17
Minsk 15
Delhi 11
Mumbai 8

Also read -  Saudi businessman happily spends $2.6 million to buy the world's most expensive football ticket. He will see Cristiano Ronaldo face Lionel Messi from his VIP suite.

[SkyTrax]

Written By