Covid traffic light system could cost UK airports GBP2.6b this summer

The UK aviation sector has warned that airports are likely to lose at least £2.6bn this summer as the “chaotic” Covid traffic light system halts international travel. Airports said the coming months could deal a heavier financial blow than 2020, while airlines called for grants to offset the impact of travel restrictions and protect jobs. The Airport Operators Association (AOA) said with fewer countries on the green list now than on the travel corridors last summer, owing to the government’s “overly cautious” restrictions, UK hubs were likely to lose even more than the GBP2.6b in revenue lost from April to September 2020. Last year passenger numbers reached just 22% of pre-pandemic levels in August, when the greatest number of travel corridors allowing quarantine-free travel were designated by the government. But only 1.7% of the passengers who flew abroad in 2019 went to destinations on the green list, which exempts travellers from quarantine on return to the UK. The AOA CE, Karen Dee, said: “The government’s overly cautious approach to reopening travel has real-world consequences for the 1.6m jobs in the UK aviation and tourism industries.” She said unless the government extended the green list and made Covid testing for travellers cheaper, “aviation is in for an extremely difficult summer”. Dee said if the government decided it could not reopen travel, it should stand ready to give substantial financial support to the aviation and tourism sector, with airports being backed to remain open for critical services.<br/>