NEWS
HEATHROW’S TESTING PLAN: Heathrow declared its Covid-test facilities
ready to operate as soon as the government signs off on a trial with the aim of cutting the requirement to self-isolate from 14
days to nine or less. The airport proposes a two-test system for passengers, one on
arrival and a second carried out with a swab kit after three, five or eight days. The tests, provided by ground handler Swissport and health services firm Collinson, cost
£150 but Heathrow hopes the government might subsidise them. However, transport secretary Grant Shapps told the BBC he did not want to offer “false hope” and said: “You have to be sure you’re testing the right person the second time. Are you just going to send the kit to the house? It’s a bit more complicated than suggested.”
Abta calls for aid package to avoid job loss ‘tsunami’
Ian Taylor
Industry leaders warned this week of a “tsunami” of job losses without government aid for travel, with Abta outlining a plan to Save Future Travel in a leter to chancellor Rishi Sunak. Abta warned the industry
is at “a critical point” with more than 90,000 jobs already lost or at risk, almost one in five of the outbound total. Chief executive Mark Tanzer
An Abta survey found two out STORY TOP
of three members (65%) have made redundancies or begun consultations and four out of five of the remaining businesses expect to. Abta’s Save Future Travel campaign, first launched in April, now estimates 39,000 jobs have already been lost or are at risk at airlines, tour operators and travel agents, and 90,000-plus when the
supply chain is included. Te association called for
told Travel Weekly: “We’ve lost the summer season. Redundancies are in the tens of thousands already and, with the supply chain depending on those jobs, you’re talking hundreds of thousands. Without government support, there will be more.”
travelweekly.co.uk
regionalised quarantine and testing to open more travel markets, an APD holiday for summer 2021 and “tailored support for travel” to include “recovery grants” like those offered to retail, hospitality and leisure firms and “ongoing salary support for businesses”.
Tanzer said: “Specific grants for
the SME sector will be needed and salary support so people can work and receive government support.” He argued: “Politicians don’t
realise the enormous job creation and long supply chains of the outbound sector. We know we’re not the only ones asking for salary support, but travel is a strategic industry. It’s not something the government can afford to let fail. You need the whole chain supported, not just the airlines.” Tanzer said an APD holiday “may
be small but would help”, insisting it should lead to lower fares and not be pocketed by airlines, arguing: “Te priority is to get people on aircraſt. “Te way to do that is to reduce
fares, not have a high margin when people aren’t travelling.”
Separately, the Scotish Passenger
Agents’ Association (SPAA) warned “Scotland risks losing its travel industry” without support. A survey of members found
almost two out of five (37%) had sustained losses above £1 million. SPAA president Joanne Dooey
said: “Most members are unlikely to generate income until March. We’re facing a tsunami of redundancies.” However, an aviation source
described employment support, rates relief and reduced APD as “band aids on a gushing wound”, saying: “We don’t want to run on state subsidies for the next 12 months. We need markets open.” Eighty MPs backed a Future of
Aviation Group plan to revive travel, calling for the introduction of testing.
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