MPs urge government to ensure travel restart plans are made public
MPs have today urged the government to make public the Global Travel Taskforce’s recommendations when the body reports to the Prime Minister on plans for reopening travel on 12 April.
In a new report, the parliamentary transport committee said that the failure to do so would rob the aviation industry of much-needed clarity.
When the recommendations are shared with ministers, they should be accompanied by a statement in the House of Commons setting them out, lawmakers said.
They also called for ministers to stick to the 17 May date for restarting travel previously set out by Boris Johnson if the government’s four reopening tests are met.
The committee said that the Global Travel Taskforce should the criteria that destination countries must meet on vaccine and testing capabilities in order to reopen for travel with the UK.
In addition, it should make clear what requirements passengers will need to fulfil in order to travel abroad, including any relating to so-called vaccine passports.
Committee chair Huw Merriman said: “Airport operators, airports and airlines have told us the situation is urgent. More than anything else, they need certainty to enable them to get back into the skies and back to business.
“The 12 April date should not merely be the date when the Global Travel Taskforce makes a recommendation on an international travel route map for the Prime Minister to take forward but, as was expected, the date when the industry and public are informed by government of the way forward.”
Aviation has been one of the sectors worst hit by the pandemic, which has all but shut down flying.
Airlines and airports are desperate for a successful summer in order to begin recouping the massive losses they have suffered over the last year.