‘Fighting for survival’
THE BRITISH AVIATION INDUSTRY IS IN TURMOIL WITH HEATHROW AIRPORT SUFFERING A 72% DROP IN PASSENGER NUMBERS
IT’S been a tough 10 months for many businesses across London, with many facing an uncertain future.
Throughout the pandemic, we’ve had to say goodbye to local shops and big chains alike, but there’s another industry that’s also been hit hard.
In a year when many flights were grounded and many were forced to cancel holidays, the travel and airline industries are suffering.
Heathrow suffered a 72.7 per cent drop in passenger numbers last year, the airport has reported, as the airline industry continues to suffer due to the pandemic.
Just 22.1 million people travelled through the west London airport in 2020, down 58.8 million on the previous 12 months.
In December, passenger numbers fell by 82.9 per cent year on year to 1.1 million, from 6.7 million the previous year.
The latest decline has been caused by a new, more contagious strain of Covid-19, that has driven the government to enforce another national lockdown.
Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “The past year has been incredibly challenging for aviation.
“While we support tightening border controls temporarily by introducing pre-departure testing for international arrivals, as well as quarantine, this is not sustainable.
“The aviation industry is the cornerstone of the UK economy but is fighting for survival. We need a road map out of this lockdown, and a full waiver of business rates.
“This is an opportunity for the Government to show leadership in creating a common international standard for pre-departure testing that will allow travel and trade to restart safely so that we can start to deliver the Prime Minister’s vision of a global Britain.”
It was announced last week that all travellers to the UK from international destinations would have to test negative for coronavirus before they can enter the country. Passengers arriving by boat, train or plane, including UK nationals, will have to take a test up to 72 hours before leaving the country of departure. The new rules are expected to come into force later this week.
To illustrate how stark the decline in footfall has been at Heathrow, the graph below compares passenger numbers in 2019 and 2020:
The aviation industry is the cornerstone of the UK economy but is fighting for survival. Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye