Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
‘Uncertain’ tourists not visiting may cost £22bn
Gatwick to cut up to 600 jobs as UK fall in GDP is double that of America
GATWICK airport is to axe up to 600 jobs, nearly a quarter of its workforce, as the pandemic continues to hit the travel industry.
It comes after British Airways and Virgin Atlantic both suspended operations at the airport.
Gatwick said it is operating at 20% of last year’s capacity, with over 75% of its staff on furlough.
Gatwick boss Stewart Wingate said: “We are in on-going talks with Government to see what sector-specific support can be put in place for the industry at this time, alongside mechanisms which will give our passengers greater certainty on where and when they can safely travel abroad.”
Another casualty of the aviation downturn is Rolls-royce, which has confirmed plans to shut its aerospace factory in Nottinghamshire and it is looking to merge sites in Lancashire.
The engine maker said it plans to close its site in Annesley by the end of 2022. And around 350 jobs are under threat as the firm revealed plans to stop making wide chord fan blades for new engines at its
THE economy faces a loss of £22billion this year because of inbound international tourism collapsing due to the pandemic.
Visitors are staying away in their millions amid uncertainty over travel restrictions and their spending has plunged by 78% compared with 2019 levels, a loss of £420million a week.
A World Travel & Tourism Council report out yesterday estimates nearly three million jobs in the UK industry could go in its “worst case” modelling scenario.
WTTC president Gloria Guevara said Britain could take years to
Bankfield site in Barnoldswick, Lancashire by autumn 2023.
It is also considering merging its Ghyll Brow base with nearby Bankfield site as part of a groupwide restructure to save £1.3billion.
And Mexican restaurant chain Wahaca is to close more than a third of its restaurants. The group, founded by Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers and Mark Selby, said it will close 10 of its 28 sites.
Figures show the UK has suffered the biggest economic slump of the world’s major economies between April and June. GDP fell 20.4%, said the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – against an average 9.8% across the organisation’s 37 member countries.
The UK’S drop beat Spain’s 18.5% decline and was more than double the 9.5% fall in the US.
Experts say the UK’S poor performance is partly due to the later timing of lockdown in March and the path of easing restrictions, but also the economic reliance on the service sector, which was hit particularly hard by lockdown. recover and London’s position as a premier hubs for business and leisure visits could be under threat.
She said: “We urgently need to replace stop-start quarantine measures with rapid and costeffective test-and-trace programmes at departure points.”
WTTC analysis shows the US and France are the UK’S biggest arrivals at 10% each, with Germany third with 9%, and Ireland and Spain joint fourth on 7%. Separate tourist board data shows there were nearly 41 million visits in 2019.
Four million jobs are supported by travel in the UK, it says.