UK Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps MP, has responded to calls for test on arrival for all passengers entering the UK, which would negate the need for quarantine, in a speech to the industry yesterday (October 19). He stood by the government’s position to not test at borders reiterating the UK’s Chief Medical Officer’s opinion that such testing wouldn’t capture sufficient information on those who are asymptomatically carrying the virus.
Shapps said: “Accepting a Day 0 test on arrival could allow a very significant number of people to wrongly believe they were not bringing COVID-19 back with them. And if that happened, it wouldn’t just be travellers, but it would also be the travel industry that would be the victim of travel having reimported cases.”
Instead, the UK government is proposing a regime, based on a single test, provided by the private sector and at the cost of the passenger after a period of self-isolation. The newly-launched Global Travel Taskforce has been formed to find solutions that will implement all of this safely and effectively, said Shapps.
The global taskforce, which is chaired by Shapps and the Health Secretary, is working actively with industry to implement a new test and release regime to reduce the self-isolation period, which will mean a single test for international arrivals a week after arrival.
In addition to this domestic ‘test and release’ model the task force is also working on schemes with partner countries to establish whether self-isolation could take place before departure.
“We need a global system and the UK will show leadership by developing a framework for international travel in order to provide global consistency,” said Shapps.
In the same speech, Shapps also detailed that the government was preparing an Aviation Recovery Plan for later this autumn, which is promised to set out more measures to “boost air travel, while continuing to prevent the spread of the virus”.
He ended with a nod to the environmental issues associated with aviation and the government’s build back greener promise.
“Aviation is fortunate in one respect - we know demand for air travel is very likely to grow in decades to come. But the industry has to transform its environmental impact if it’s to be viable,” Shapps said. He further welcomed the existing green initiative of the industry such as the investment in more fuel-efficient aircraft and carbon offset plans and schemes, but he says that COVID has prompted more change and has accelerated plans to decarbonise aviation to meet the UK’s 2050 net zero target.
The Jet Zero Council, which Shapps also chairs, brings together leaders from aviation, aerospace and academia to develop UK capability to achieve net zero emission flights. Shapps states that the council will consult shortly to update its position on aviation and climate change.
In conclusion, Shapps said that while he does not underestimate how difficult things are right now for the industry, he is confident that aviation will recover, and adds that when that happens, the industry will not be the same. “It won’t be picking up from where we were at the start of 2020. It won’t be a simple return to normal service. It’ll be leaner, and cleaner, more resilient, more ambitious aviation industry.”