UK airports losing £83m a week due to coronavirus
The UK’s airports are losing £83m a week as a result of the coronavirus crisis, the Airport Operators Association (AOA) revealed this evening.
Air travel has been decimated by the pandemic, with the collapse of passenger revenues on course to set the sector back £4.3bn this year.
However, the trade body said that the real figure could be far higher, as the slowdown affects businesses and towns around the UK’s airports.
On the back of the figures the AOA renewed calls for extra sector-specific support from Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
Karen Dee, the trade association’s chief exec, said: “UK airports have done everything in their power to weather the storm and have done so without the specific Government support afforded to other sectors.
“That they are losing £83m per week must serve as a wakeup call to the Government and lead to the delivery of the promised Aviation Recovery Package of support.”
Once again the body asked for a 12 month holiday from business rates for airports. Those in Scotland and Northern Ireland have already received the tax break.
In addition, the AOA called for Air Passenger Duty to be suspended for a year, and the suspension of VAT to be continued for the aviation industry.
Last month the Treasury announced that duty free sales at airports, ports and Eurostar stations would be scrapped from 1 January.
The move met with outcry from businesses in the sector. Airports for example derive as much as 40 per cent of their income from duty free retailers.
The calls come as Heathrow Airport unveiled the country’s first pre-departure coronavirus testing facility this morning, boosting hopes that a full-scale testing regime could be implemented soon.
At the moment, the facilities are only testing people flying to Hong Kong and Italy, but ministers are being urged to roll out the programme at scale.
Dee said the government needed to act swiftly to protect the industry.
“Damage now to Britain’s connectivity will take years to repair, harming all our ambitions for the UK in the global marketplace”, she warned.