BUSINESS NEWS
BA chief calls for restart of transatlantic services
Ian Taylor
Transatlantic traffic between the UK and US should “lead the way in opening up” travel, with the rest of Europe to follow the “template” of the system between the countries. That is according to British
Airways chief executive Sean Doyle who suggested there is “an immediate opportunity” to restart flights to the US despite a ban on entry to UK and other European citizens at present. Speaking at a Capa Centre
for Aviation online summit, Doyle argued: “The vaccination programmes of the UK and US more or less mirror each other. That should lead the UK-US to lead the way in opening up air travel.” He described the Global Travel
Taskforce plan to restart travel as “onerous” and said the government “needs to be more ambitious”. Doyle said: “The framework could
be simpler. It could be more affordable and more easily understood. It does not need to be as onerous as it is to manage the risk we’re dealing with.”
Air France boss loath to predict end of restrictions
The restart of travel around Europe could be delayed by Covid-19 variants and a lack of cross-border coordination, the head of Air France has warned. Chief executive Anne Rigail
said she remains cautious after the
travelweekly.co.uk But he forecast the whole of
Europe could be “in a much better place” by June and allow travel to recover for the summer. He insisted: “There is an
immediate opportunity to open up to the US. With the progress in Europe on vaccination, that could be a template others follow. We’re impressing that upon the UK government. In the near term, the UK-US should be leading the way in opening.” He added: “I hope the US looks at the repeal of Section 212F sooner
Sean Doyle
rather than later.” Section 212F of the US Immigration and Nationality Act, invoked by President Trump, to suspend entry to foreign citizens including from the UK, Ireland and the EU Schengen Area, remains in force. Aviation minister Robert Courts
noted the US travel ban remains an obstacle to resuming transatlantic flights when he appeared before the Transport Select Committee last week, saying: “The US has a ban on UK citizens [entering]. Not everything is controlled by this government.”
Lundgren fears certification plans lack coordination
EasyJet’s chief executive has questioned how coordinated travel’s restart will be in Europe and how quickly digital Covid certification will be introduced. Johan Lundgren warned that
manual checks on travellers’ vaccine and test certificates are likely and said: “I don’t trust how coordinated it will be.” Speaking as easyJet issued a
trading update for the six months to March, Lundgren noted: “There has been a lack of coordination across countries.” The EU has promised to deliver
a Digital Green Certificate to show the Covid-status of travellers by June and the UK government plans to make digital and paper Covid- status certificates available. But speaking of the EU’s Digital
Green Certificate, Lundgren said: “I’m not so confident that will be rapidly implemented. Manual checks will probably be necessary. No doubt it will be a challenge.” Lundgren reported easyJet
would operate only 20% of its 2019 capacity in the three months to June, but insisted: “I still believe there will be a strong summer.”
Anne Rigail
Speaking at a Capa Centre for
Aviation online summit, Rigail said: “From the beginning of the crisis, the forecasts we’ve made have been beaten up by reality. We had to delay forecast restarts every time. “The good thing is demand
airline had been “beaten by reality” following previous forecasts. She also warned against reliance on testing to reopen borders.
is not impacted. But what can slow the recovery are the variants which led governments to put new restrictions in place. What can also slow the recovery is a lack of coordination in Europe.” She argued: “What can
accelerate the recovery is the vaccination strategy because it gives confidence to customers and to governments to reopen borders.” However, asked about the
importance of testing, Rigail said: “Testing is variable in Europe. We see it is not enough to bring confidence to lift restrictions. Testing will be present, but only the vaccination rate will allow us to reopen.” She insisted: “It remains
difficult to forecast the lifting of travel restrictions in Europe.”
22 APRIL 2021 39
PICTURE: Naoise Culhane Photography
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
