London City boss: Airport testing can be ‘shot in the arm’ for economy
The boss of London City airport has urged the government’s new travel taskforce to lay out how it will implement a coronavirus testing regime.
Robert Sinclair said that doing so would “deliver a much-needed shot in the arm for business air travel, boosting economic growth across every region and every sector.”
“We know the demand for air travel is there, but restrictive quarantine measures are currently holding business leaders back from flying, and the UK economy from beginning its recovery”, he added.
“We sincerely hope that the Global Travel Taskforce both acknowledges how fundamental business travel is and moves quickly to introduce a roadmap for aviation which sets out how a testing regime can be implemented quickly.”
Ministers set up the body last week to review how the UK might replace its current quarantine regime with a testing programme.
A number of countries around the world, such as Germany, have already put in place such a system.
The announcement was a blow to the aviation sector, who had hoped such a regime could be in place by the end of the month.
Dutch airline KLM backed Sinclair’s call, saying getting routes up and running again was crucial to the UK’s regional economies.
“We hope the taskforce will be able to define a roadmap that will allow us to eliminate the quarantine measures and reinstall travel confidence so that we can continue to rebuild our regional frequencies that is so vital for the regional economy”, said KLM Cityhopper managing director Warner Rootliep.
His words came as new data from WPI Strategy showed that before the outbreak of the pandemic, the total value of domestic aviation in the UK was in the order of £15bn.
Over a quarter of that sum – £4bn – was for London alone, the figures show.
Richard Burge, chief executive of business body the London Chamber of Commerce (LCC), said:
“If London is to return to being a world city then we need a thriving aviation sector and we need effective ways of testing for Covid-19 at our borders.
“Of course aviation isn’t just vital to London’s recovery alone. Whether it’s through travel and trade into London and then onward in the UK, or arrivals and departures in other UK cities and regions, London-based aviation is intrinsic to our national and regional economies, and to a great extent the economy of much of the world.