Airport testing could save 110,000 jobs
BORIS JOHNSON has been warned by the bosses of the UK’S 20 biggest airports that he risks “irreparable damage” to the economy unless he moves to replace quarantine with Covid testing in the next week.
In a letter to the Prime Minister and Chancellor, the signatories, including bosses at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Luton, give Mr Johnson seven days to approve testing as one of a series of measures to prevent the loss of up to 110,000 avia- tion and allied jobs.
Ministers are also considering following Wales by sanctioning regional “travel corridors” where visitors to “low-risk” islands such as Madeira and the Azores would be exempt from quarantine despite travel bans on the mainland. A decision could come as early as today, say industry sources.
The airports’ appeal came as England saw its biggest daily toll of infections since May, with 2,988 new cases. It prompted Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, to appeal to young people not to “infect your grandparents”.
Meanwhile, the Commons transport committee urged Mr Johnson to move quicker. Huw Merriman, the chairman, said the Prime Minister’s failure to endorse airport testing was adding “further barriers to travel”.
Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, yesterday maintained the Government line that Covid tests on arrival alone were not a “silver bullet” but confirmed ministers were considering shortening 14-day quarantine by introducing two tests, one on arrival and a second after five or eight days.
In a crucial Commons debate on
Thursday, scores of Tory MPS will urge the Government to back airport testing to enable travellers to sidestep quarantine, introduce regional travel corridors and target more support to the aviation sector.
In their letter to Mr Johnson, the airport chief executives warned they have already lost £4billion and are unlikely to see a return to pre-covid levels of travel for another four years.
“We cannot currently envisage an end to this struggle, and without robust government support there is real possibility of irreparable damage being done to our once world beating aviation sector,” they wrote.
The 20 airport chiefs – led by Baroness Ruby Mcgregor-smith, Tory chair
of the Airport Operators’ Association (AOA) – said testing and regional travel corridors were critical to opening up travel.
Writing on the Telegraph website, Andrew Flintham, managing director of TUI, the UK’S biggest travel operator, also warns Britain’s failure to introduce tests means it is lagging behind more than 30 nations, including Germany and France, which have already introduced them to free up travel.
In a statement backing the Telegraph Test4travel campaign, Gloria Guevara, chief executive of the World Travel & Tourism Council, said Britain’s failure to do airport testing left it “isolated” internationally.
In its response to the transport committee yesterday, the Government promised an aviation strategy in the autumn, including reforming how airlines are allocated slots and consulting on aviation tax changes such as air passenger duty.