UK GDP faces $14b impact from closed US air links

The closure of passenger air links between the US and the UK will strip at least GBP11b off UK gross domestic product in 2020, according to a report commissioned by British Airways’ parent IAG, London’s Heathrow Airport, the Airlines UK trade group and airport services firm Collinson Group. The authors called for the creation of city or state-based travel corridors between the US and the UK as well as airport testing for Covid-19. Keeping the routes closed will cost the UK economy GBP32m a day by the beginning of October, according to the report. “Government inaction on aviation and its impact on Britain’s economy couldn’t be clearer,” BA CEO Alex Cruz said. “Ministers must reach agreement with their US counterparts on a testing regime that minimizes quarantine and permits regional travel corridors to re-open the UK-US market.” Airlines have been campaigning to lift restrictions on trans-Atlantic travel which have been in place since early March. New York to London is BA’s most profitable route, with business travel a key driver of demand. The route generated about 7m seat sales last year. The US is the single biggest source of visitors to the UK, with almost 4m people visiting annually, according to the report.<br/>