Airport boss wants aviation recovery plan
FRUSTRATION AT RESTRICTIONS ON ‘GREEN LIST’ DESTINATIONS
THE owner of East Midlands Airport says people will feel “frustrated” at the Government’s green list announcement – with just 12 countries and regions confirmed for quarantine-free holiday travel.
Portugal, Gibraltar and Israel are among 12 countries and territories people in England can visit from May 17 without self-isolating on their return. But there is annoyance that th elist includes countries such as Australia and New Zealand that aren’t permitting visitors. France, Spain, Greece and Italy are not yet included in the green list. They will be on the amber list – so require 10 days of quarantine at home when you return to the UK.
Countries will be reviewed as part of the traffic light system for foreign travel to guard against a resurgence of Covid.
Turkey, the Maldives and Nepal were added to the red list. People returning from those countries after 4am on Wednesday will be required to stay in a quarantine hotel for 11 nights at a cost of £1,750 for solo travellers.
MAG owns and operates East Midlands, Manchester and London Stansted airports. Its CEO, Charlie Cornish, said: “Many people will be frustrated that [Friday’s] announcement by the Transport Secretary does not allow for a broader restart of international travel, with so few countries on the initial green list.
“The aviation industry will be especially concerned that the Government appears to have ignored clear scientific evidence, which shows that testing and vaccinations can support safe travel to a larger group of low-risk destinations.
“The British public will understandably question why our world-leading vaccination programme has not earned them the freedom to travel abroad without expensive and inconvenient tests – a freedom that other governments, including the European Union, will be giving to people who have been vaccinated.”
He said aviation supports more than one million jobs and generates billions of pounds of economic value but is “being held back” by much tighter controls than any other industry.
Mr Cornish said it essential that the country has meaningful progress towards restarting international travel at the first review of the green list in the next few weeks, ahead of the peak summer season. “It is also vital Government explores fairer and smarter ways to protect the UK from variants of concern, removing the need for all arriving passengers to take costly and inconvenient PCR tests and mirroring the approach being taken by other countries.
“A true aviation recovery plan is needed to ensure it can play its part in the recovery of the UK economy”
People returning from these countries will have to take a test before they return to the UK and one on day two after they return - but will not have to quarantine: Portugal including the Azores and Madeira, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands and Israel.