BA parent slams possible UK quarantine plans

BA parent IAG warned on Thursday it would not restart flying if the UK imposed a 14-day quarantine on passengers arriving in the country. “If there is a 14-day quarantine, I wouldn’t expect us to be doing any flying in that situation, or very little flying,” said Willie Walsh, CE of IAG. He added he could not see “an environment where people will want to fly into the UK if they are forced to quarantine for 14 days”. Grant Shapps, UK transport secretary, is considering quarantine measures for all arrivals into the country once travel restrictions are lifted as part of the government’s phased exit from lockdown. Walsh’s criticism came as IAG said it was hoping to make a “meaningful” return to the skies in July. The airline said it expected passenger capacity to be down by about 50% for the year as a whole, although Walsh said this was dependent on governments alleviating lockdowns and travel restrictions. The carrier also warned that further job cuts would be needed across the group for it to survive the blow inflicted by the disease. IAG predicted it would take three years before passenger demand returned to normal. It said it would defer deliveries of 68 aircraft. IAG revealed it had raised GBP300m from the UK’s Coronavirus Corporate Financing Facility, adding to the E1bn it had accessed from Spain’s Instituto de Crédito Oficial facility to boost its liquidity. Walsh rejected suggestions he had previously said he was opposed to state aid. He said he was happy to access general support schemes that were provided by the government, but added: “I’m opposed to illegal state aid, which typically applies to state aid given to a failed company.”<br/>