In a joint submission by Airlines UK and the AOA to the UK Government’s Global Travel Taskforce, ahead of its final checkpoint review, the industry bodies call for the removal of all restrictions to air travel. The letter notes that UK traffic levels (around 50% of 2019 levels) are significantly behind competitors in Europe, which includes France (which is seeing around 70% of 2019 traffic levels), Italy (70%), Spain (70%), Greece (95%) and Germany (60%). This is based on flight movements as recorded by EUROCONTROL.
Commenting on their submission to the Global Travel Taskforce’s next checkpoint review, Airlines UK Chief Executive Tim Alderslade and AOA Chief Executive Karen Dee said:
“While the rest of the economy has been able to reopen without restrictions, UK aviation continues to operate with complex and burdensome restrictions, such as the sky-high cost of testing. As a result, aviation is unique in having had a worse summer this year than last. Meanwhile, our European competitors have taken off and are seeing traffic levels at more than 70% of 2019 figures.
“It’s time the Government recognises the disproportionate burdens on aviation. Fully vaccinated people should be able to travel without restrictions or testing. This would match the approach to domestic travel but also aligns us with our European competitors. It would provide greater certainty to travellers while keeping variants of concern at bay through the continuation of a red list.
“The price of not doing so is high, not just for businesses reliant on international travel and trade but also for people across the UK. For example, furlough remains widely used in aviation and with furlough ending shortly, further jobs are at risk during the upcoming challenging winter season.”