Industry focus turns to next reviews Ian Taylor


The renewed block on international travel shifted attention to upcoming reviews of the green list and traffic light system. The government made clear


the planned June 21 easing of the domestic lockdown is taking priority, amid fears it could be delayed by two to four weeks. A decision is due on June 14. A senior industry source close to


talks with the government suggested nothing would move forward “until we get clarity around June 21”. The next review of the green list


is due by June 28, also the date of the first review of the traffic light system. However, the source complained:


“The reviews are a mystery. We’ve no idea what will be included, when decisions will be made or the


Tanzer spells out support demands to the Treasury


Ian Taylor


Time is running out for the sector to trade through this summer to survival, with industry leaders warning firms are “close to the wire”. Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer


laid out a list of demands of the government when he appeared before the Treasury select committee on Monday, warning: “A lot of businesses will not be around if we stay as we are.” Tanzer told Travel Weekly: “It’s


critical we get as much of July and August as possible. People are going to run out of money by the end of


4 10 JUNE 2021


August if they don’t get money in.” Tanzer said the industry will “need


assistance” if it is to avoid “a huge number of failures and redundancies”. He called for support “on a


revenue replacement basis”, saying: “That should enable people to come through this. Official data shows travel is at the bottom of the pile, off by 90%, [and] government policies are prolonging this crisis.” Tanzer outlined a series of urgent


support measures to MPs, insisting: “We’d like not just an extension of furlough but a more flexible scheme, an extension of business rates


relief and VAT deferral. We need a dedicated system of grant relief – business grants have been tied to physical restraints on opening rather than regulatory restraints.” He also called for the removal


of VAT on PCR tests and of APD on fares, warning: “We’re talking about weeks not months . . . before companies fail. I fear us losing a generation of travel companies.” Speaking on a Travel Weekly


webcast, Jet2 chief executive Steve Heapy said: “The government is


keeping a major industry shut. They have to consider support or they’ll drive the industry into the ground.” Alan Bowen, legal advisor to the


Association of Atol Companies, agreed: “The industry needs help. The government seems to think we can struggle on. We were able to survive with few failures last year because we were in a relatively good position when Covid hit. People survived by using all their reserves. “Nobody is in that position now. Those reserves aren’t there.”


travelweekly.co.uk Matt Hancock


implementation dates. Why on earth are we at this point more than a year into the pandemic?” Health secretary Matt Hancock


suggested travel’s restart could be further delayed, telling MPs on Monday: “Restoring international travel in the medium term is . . . going to be challenging.” However, the industry source


insisted: “Changing dates doesn’t mean you don’t have a plan. It’s the plan that has gone awry. Meanwhile, Europe is forging ahead. “Let’s have a plan and stick to it.


Let’s have clarity.” There is a further green list review due in the week leading up to July 19, just in time for most school holidays in England, then a second review of the traffic light system by the end of


July and another green list review by August 9 – the last before the August bank holiday. There are hopes a meeting of G7


leaders in Cornwall this week could give fresh impetus to a restart. An industry source told


Travel Weekly: “We see no reason why the UK should not allow fully-vaccinated passengers to travel from June 28, and we hope that will be discussed at the G7.” The heads of British Airways,


Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, Delta, United, JetBlue and Heathrow united ahead of the summit to call for a UK-US travel corridor. Heathrow chief John Holland-


Kaye hailed the UK and US as “the poster children of vaccination programmes”.


Abta chief Mark Tanzer addresses the Treasury select committee remotely


PICTURE: Parliamentlive.tv


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