Shapps and Co will not even talk to us, says airport boss
AVIATION bosses last night accused ministers of ‘completely disengaging’ from the industry over airport coronavirus tests.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has not held an official meeting with Heathrow airport in recent weeks despite mounting evidence of an industry in crisis.
Derek Provan, the boss of Southampton, Aberdeen and Glasgow airports, said: ‘We are isolated as an industry and they are not interested in talking to us about testing.
‘We are trying to tell the Government we are experts in transport but they are completely disregarding us. Why can they not at least have a conversation about it?’
A senior aviation source said that a fortnight ago, as criticism of the quarantine policy mounted, the Department for Transport
‘stopped all engagement with the industry – this was a crazy move given the severity of the crisis’.
The source added: ‘Many in the industry are very angry at the lack of engagement. It has been a wall of silence.’
John Holland-Kaye, chief executive of Heathrow, is in regular contact with Mr Shapps but has told of his frustration at the lack of official meetings to discuss testing.
He has pointed out that the boss of Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris has had numerous official meetings with the transport minister in France, where airport testing is in place and passenger numbers are recovering. Pressure is now mounting on Mr Shapps to hold urgent crisis talks with Airlines UK and the Airport Operators Association, the trade bodies representing Britain’s aviation sector, as well as Heathrow.
Heathrow said: ‘We urge all decision makers to start more effective engagement to ensure the right and safe solution is found.’
Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, said: ‘We urgently need to get passenger connectivity with key markets going again and that needs a smart testing regime instead of quarantine. The urgency cannot be overstated and we are losing time.’
The DfT said it has held regular meetings with the industry and work is being done to ‘consider if and how testing could be used to reduce the self-isolation period’.