Britain's airlines, airports and aviation manufacturers have pleaded for immediate financial support from the government and a longer-term recovery plan after COVID-19 stopped travel and new testing requirements dashed bounce-back hopes.
Three trade bodies said that they wrote to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week to ask for a package of measures including temporarily suspending business rates and a tax on flying, extra loans for airlines, and access to funds for the aerospace supply chain.
Help is needed to "protect companies from the threat to their survival" posed by the pandemic, and to prevent more jobs being put at risk, said Airlines UK, which represents British Airways, easyJet and others, the Airport Operators Association and the UK aerospace trade body ADS.
Britain's current lockdowns ban most international travel. Flight volumes in the UK are down by 80% compared to 2019, and over 45,000 jobs have already been lost in the sector, with more threatened, the groups said.
New rules that Britain introduced on Monday January 18, which require a negative pre-departure test for travellers plus a period of quarantine on arrival, are a further blow, they warned.
The government needs to plan to reintroduce some quarantine-free travel and a cheaper testing regime to aid the aviation recovery once vaccines are rolled out, they said.
"To achieve a strong overall economic recovery from this crisis, the UK must sustain aviation and aerospace industries that connect us to global trading partners and provide vital jobs in every part of the country," ADS chief executive Paul Everitt said in a statement.
Britain's government said earlier this week that it will give financial aid to airports before the end of March.
Repeatedly Asked For Help
The country's aviation industry has repeatedly asked the government for help during the crisis but has to date primarily only benefited from support schemes available to all industries.
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