The United Kingdom airline managements and staff have on Wednesday held protests involving the wider travel industry against what they term as mismanagement of Covid travel restrictions by the government.
According to the protesters, "the so-called 'traffic light' system for color-coding Covid risk levels for visitors from different countries has been confusing and inconsistent, resulting in serious harm to the travel industry".
The industry’s “travel day of action” involved protests outside the UK parliament and also across the country at airports and other sites associated with the travel industry. This comes a day before the planned parliamentary debate on the issue. Many expect the government to face criticism from its own Conservative Party representatives and 24 hours before officials are due to review the list of countries for which onerous Covid testing and quarantine requirements apply.
Government ministers, including Secretary of Health Matt Hancock and Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps, have indicated that they might be willing to revise travel restrictions. Hancock hinted that they could relax the restrictions for fully vaccinated travelers and that officials will look at ways to open international travel.
Pressure has grown on the British government has grown more since the 27-member European Union member indicated their intention to open borders to vaccinated travelers as from July 1, 2021. And Prime Minister Boris Johnson has faced a lot of criticism for delaying the suspension of flights from India in April which could have prevented the surge.
The UK travel industry also has complained that the country’s “green, amber, red” risk designations have resulted in confusion that has undermined both consumers and companies. Arrivals from the small number of “green” countries are permitted with testing or quarantines, but the requirements remain in place for “amber” countries. Many consumers have assumed they could travel to and from “amber” countries, only for the government to clarify that, in fact, the designation allows only “essential” travel.
The UK travel sector now fears that the European Union member, which Britain left through the Brexit process in2020, will be far better placed to rebuild their businesses under the new policy taking effect on July 1. While most agree that the UK’s vaccination process has proved largely successful, there remains widespread criticism of the government’s handling of travel rules, which have been changed several times on short notice. That has left travelers stranded and has discouraged consumers from booking trips ahead of the peak summer vacation season.
However, the British Airline Pilots Association called on the government, “to use science and data to open up several safe travel routes with the U.S. and far more European destinations, just as other countries are doing.” It cited statistics from IATA showing that around 860,000 jobs in the UK aviation, travel and tourism sectors have been lost or are now at risk as a result of Covid.
Last week, a group of UK airlines and airports, led by Ryanair and Manchester Airport Group, started a legal against the British government over Covid travel rules. They have asked the high court to review the policies, demanding full transparency about the restrictions and how they can improve.
Credit: AIN Online
Share this:
Post a Comment