BA backs airport testing campaign, as four countries join quarantine list

BA can only survive if Government works with it, including through support for airport Covid-19 testing, according to the carrier’s CE and chairman Alex Cruz. “These are the toughest times in the history of the aviation industry,” said Cruz as four more countries are added to the UK’s travel 'red list'. “Coronavirus has hit our business hard, and the sector is fighting for its very survival,” he adds. “What is hugely frustrating is that we know people want to travel, to fly, whether to see friends or family, to see business contacts face-to-face or to recharge on the beach, but without a rigorous, reliable Coronavirus testing programme – together with a sensible approach to quarantine – people’s plans are being unnecessarily grounded.” Ongoing changes to the holiday quarantine-list have seen hundreds of thousands of Britons race back to the UK, or cancel trips, to avoid two-weeks of self-isolation at home. Portugal, Hungary, French Polynesia and Reunion are the latest four countries to face quarantine restrictions – it is just three weeks since Portugal was granted a travel corridor with the UK (Madeira and the Azores are exempt from quarantine rules for arrivals to England and Wales). <br/>