LONDON (UK) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson must show how travel will resume when he charts out his wider roadmap for relaxing COVID-19 restrictions on February 22, UK airline bosses said.
Coronavirus restrictions on travel have left airlines struggling over the last year. British Airways and easyJet, considered Britain’s biggest airlines fear their sector could be sidelined by the government again.
easyJet Chief Executive Johan Lundgren told media at an online event on Thursday, “We need a clear statement on the path for international travel in the prime minister’s announcement.”
“The government has suggested that every other sector which includes hospitality, retail, and leisure, that it will be a roadmap for these sectors out on the February 22, and international travel must be included as well.”
Airlines UK, the industry body, urged a phased re-opening of UK borders, with levels of vaccinations being ramped up, coupled with lower infection and hospitalisation rates leading the way for restrictions to be gradually taken down.
If there is no roadmap to recovery for this summer, it warned there will need to be “a bespoke support package” from government.
All airlines, including Jet2, TUI and Virgin Atlantic, are relying on a bumper summer recovery in three to four months time that would remove pressure on their finances, which is quite strained.
Britons need a clarity regarding lifting of restrictions so they can book holidays, the companies said.
Many holiday destinations, such as Spain and France, also currently imposed restrictions on UK passengers from entering due to worries over variants.
One minister have said people should not make bookings for holidays in Britain or abroad, while Health Minister Matt Hancock said people should give it some time and the government was doing “everything it can”.
Britain’s airline and travel sector has benefited from furlough schemes for workers, while bigger companies have taken on government COVID-19 loans, however, it has not had a package, which is specific to the sector from the government.
