UK: BA, easyJet and Ryanair launch legal action over UK quarantine

BA, easyJet and Ryanair are pushing ahead with legal action against the UK government over the introduction of its two-week quarantine period on travellers entering Britain. The group filed the legal papers on Thursday evening at the High Court, just days after the new quarantine rules came into effect. They have asked for their judicial review to be heard as soon as possible.  The three airlines on Friday said they had launched their action against the government’s “flawed quarantine”, which they have claimed would have a “devastating effect on British tourism and the wider economy” as well as destroying thousands of jobs. Many in the travel industry have called on the government to introduce a system of “air bridges” or “travel corridors”, which would enable people to travel between two countries with similar levels of coronavirus infection without the need to quarantine. The UK’s three biggest airlines said in a statement on Friday that there was so far no “evidence on how and when proposed ‘air bridges’ between the UK and other countries will be implemented”. The group wants the government to readopt its previous quarantine policy introduced on March 10, where the restrictions were limited to passengers from “high risk” countries. This would be the “most practical and effective solution” and would bring the UK in line with much of Europe which is opening its borders in the middle of this month, the airlines said.<br/>