Flights to the sun ‘could be grounded until start of 2022’
FOREIGN travel curbs are to be in place for the rest of this year, airport bosses have been told.
Travel industry leaders have given up on the hope of foreign holiday flights being able to resume this summer, following talks with Scottish Government officials.
It is a hammer blow for an industry that is on its knees because of severe restrictions which have been in place for much of the last year.
It means the tourism industry faces the prospect of a second successive summer with hardly any international visitors.
A Tory MSP yesterday warned that airlines are considering deserting Scotland and families would need to travel to England to catch flights.
Officials warned of the longlasting restrictions at a meeting of a Scottish Government working group on aviation after Nicola Sturgeon unveiled her route map out of lockdown.
An industry source said: ‘It seems aviation is at the back of the queue. What was clear is there won’t be any international travel this summer.
‘Even if there is some loosening, we won’t be back to normal this year. There will still be testing, some countries we can’t fly to, and quarantine.’
At First Minister’s Questions yesterday, Scottish Tory transport spokesman Graham Simpson said: ‘Airports are telling us they will not be able to sustain losses for much longer.
‘Airlines are considering moving aircraft and jobs out of Scotland to places they have certainty of flying from. We risk turning the clock back decades. There was a hastily convened Scottish Government working group which heard there might be restrictions on flying for the rest of the year. Is that the First Minister’s position?’
Miss Sturgeon failed to say whether restrictions would be needed for the rest of the year, saying it was not possible to give ‘certainty’.
She added: ‘Other parts of the UK that are often described as having given certainty I don’t think have done that either.
‘I took part in a four-nations call last night, chaired by Michael Gove, who was at pains to say that the May 17 date for the UK Government was not set in stone and it would depend on the state of the virus.’
Following the exchange, Mr Simpson said: ‘The sector is in dire straits, airlines are planning to move out of Scotland because they can get more business elsewhere, so we could end up with the situation we got in the 1970s and 80s where you have to travel to England if you want to fly.’
At a meeting yesterday of Holyrood’s Covid-19 committee, Constitution Secretary Mike Russell was also asked about the prospect of international travel opening up within the next couple of months.
He said: ‘We don’t anticipate international travel opening up within that timescale.
‘Non-essential international travel is not on the agenda for some considerable time.’
A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said: ‘We are forgetting the importance of inbound tourism to Scotland’s economy, with thousands of jobs and hundreds of businesses across the mainland and on our islands reliant on visitors.’
‘Turning clock back decades’