Findings are being shared with the government and “could be used to support recovery across sectors”.

They are in addition to the airport’s paid-for inbound testing facility, which is awaiting government clearance.

“The findings from the trials are being evaluated and will be shared with government as ministers consider how testing could provide a safe alternative to blanket quarantine in certain circumstances,” the airport said.

“The long-term aim of the trial is to understand whether these tests could be quickly and efficiently conducted on large numbers of people outside of a laboratory setting and to ensure they are accurate enough to be delivered in an airport environment.”

The three systems being trialed include a nasal or throat swab test, which provides results in 30 minutes, a saliva test, which gives a visual result in 10 minutes and a self-administered test that works within 30 seconds.

All must be proven to work in a non-clinical environment before approval.

Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “If we can find a test that is accurate, gets a result within a matter of minutes, is cost-effective and gets the government green light, we could have the potential to introduce wide-scale testing at the airport.”