WE THINK IT’S HOL OVER
Airport manager says airlines are moving routes to England
An airport boss has warned holidaymakers will not be able to fly abroad from Scotland unless the Government takes urgent action.
Glasgow Ai rport head Derek Provan has launched a scathing attack on Holyrood, warning that airlines are already moving many routes to England.
Provan, who is CEO of AGS Airports which also runs Aberdeen Airport, said the promised taskforce to help save the industry has yet to have a single meeting.
He said: “What we do know is that airlines have told Scottish ministers they’ll be checking out of Scotland and taking with them the routes we’ve spent decades building up.
“This could mean having to travel to England in future to go on holiday. The Scottish Government can’t allow this to happen.”
A simi lar taskforce in England has held meetings and been ordered to report to Prime Minister Boris Johnson within weeks.
The delay in Scotland has resulted in airlines with smaller numbers of aircraft turning their backs on the country after decades of work to build up routes.
Provan warned of a risk of the same problems holidaymakers faced in the 80s when they had to travel south of the Border for international flights.
He claimed Transport Minister Michael Matheson had let them down.
He said: “It’s now been over one month since the Cabinet Secretar y for Transport announced plans to establish an aviation working group to help the sector here in Scotland. But a date has still to be set for a first meeting.
“In the interim, the Prime Minister has established a Global Travel Taskforce, which on April 12 will set out recommendations for the safe restart of international travel for airports in England. This doesn’t guarantee dates for when planes can take to the skies but it does allow airlines to make plans to get the sector and the economy moving again.
“In Scotland, we have no such framework to work with and no idea when this will end.”
Provan accused the Scottish Government of risking public health and thousands of jobs with “unworkable” hotel quarantine rules while refusing to chart a pandemic exit.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced in February that Scotland’s air travel rules would go further than England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In the other parts of Britain, only people arriving from high-risk count r ies are forced to quarantine in hotels but in Scotland it applies to everyone flying in from outside the UK.
A loophole meanspassengers can simply f ly into England, then travel north to avoid a £1750 bill. Provan said: “My teams ask when it will end, when will we be able to work and when can passengers return to the skies?
“I can’t answer these questions. We’re told the vaccine is the route out of the crisis, yet we have no indication from the Scottish Government on when it will start to remove layers of the restrictions that effectively closed our borders. We’ve always been clear we support the need for emergency measures to bring the virus
under control. However, they can’t remain in place indefinitely and risk jobs, connectivity and Scotland’s economy.
“We want to work with the Scottish Government to find the best solution but to do so it must engage with the industry.
“To date, no such meaningful engagement has happened – this has led to the unworkable managed hotel quarantine policy.
“The managed quarantine policy means any international passenger who flies directly into Scotland must pay £1750 to stay in a hotel for 10 days.
“This differs from the UK Government’s approach, which requires passengers who arrive from a ‘red-listed’ country to hotel quarantine.
“The lack of engagement has not only resulted in widespread confusion among passengers, it has left Government officials confused. This came to light in the case of the f irst two passengers who were told to stay in managed isolation before being sent home the next day.
“The loophole, one we prewarned the Government about, allows international passengers who arrive in Scotland via Dublin or any English airport to avoid a hotel quarantine. This is the worst of both worlds as it doesn’t protect public health in the way intended and it inflicts further damage on aviation.”
About 2000 direct and indirect jobs are estimated to have been lost from Glasgow Airport alone over the pandemic.
Edinburgh Ai rport has blamed the cancellation of Turkish Airlines’ direct service to Istanbul on quarantine rules.
Jet2 chief Steve Heapy has said “we do have assets that are moveable if one area makes it particularly difficult to operate”.
Provan added: “Our airports came to an almost complete standstill and that remains the case. Passenger numbers were down by as much as 99 per cent.
“Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost and it is going to be the latter part of this decade before we recover.”
The Scottish Government said: “Decisions on reopening of the travel industry will be guided by public health evidence in the context of the Strategic Framework.”