Thousands of jobs at risks unless travel rules changed: Airlines

Wednesday 15th September 2021 06:29 EDT
 

The airlines and travel industry has called upon ministers to bring down the UK’s Covid traffic light and PCR testing rules as figures reveal their “devastating impact” on overseas flights and holiday bookings in peak season. Data revealed by the Travel Association (ABTA) states bookings for holidays abroad this summer were down 83 per cent on 2019, with half of travel companies reporting no increase in bookings compared with last summer, despite the vaccination programme.

ABTA said thousands of jobs in the sector were at risk, with seven in 10 companies planning to make redundancies once the furlough ends. Meanwhile, the Heathrow and Manchester Airports Group (MAG) joined the calls for a simplified two-tier system for international travel. The London hub airport was the busiest in Europe, however, is now ranked 10th after a 71 per cent drop in August traffic compared with pre-pandemic levels.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said at the weekend that he wanted to scrap PCR day two tests for fully vaccinated arrivals “as soon as I possibly can”. However, easyJet said it had yet to see any discernible impact of the announcement on bookings. A spokesperson said the airline would continue to argue for the scrapping of all tests for vaccinated travellers visiting low-risk countries.

Chief executive of ABTA, Mark Tanzer said the requirements had “choked off” the summer’s travel trade. He said, “While our European neighbours have been travelling freely and safely, the British were subject to expensive measures which have stood in the way. The government needs to wake up to the damage its policies are doing to the UK travel industry and the impact they will have on the wider economic recovery.”

Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said, “If ministers fail to take this opportunity to streamline the travel rules, then the UK will fall further behind as trade and tourists will increasingly bypass the UK.”


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