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Aviation leaders demand clarity on quarantine

UK aviation leaders have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to express “serious concern and frustration” at the proposed imposition of quarantine measures for arrivals to the UK.

The chief executives of easyJet, Ryanair, Jet2, Heathrow, Gatwick and other airlines and airports warned: “An open-ended quarantine with no set end date will make an already critical situation for UK aviation even worse.”

They questioned “how enforceable such a measure will be” and told the prime minister: “People will simply choose not to travel to and from the UK, at the same time as economies in Europe and around the world begin opening up their borders.”

The chief executives urged the prime minister to meet them, saying: “Clarity from government is needed as to whether such an outcome is the intention or expectation of this measure, which was announced without any consultation with the sector.

“A quarantine takes no account of the status of the outbreak at the point of departure to the UK or the effectiveness of any other health measures applied to passengers.

“We are concerned that we have had no clarity on key details, including the advice underpinning the measure, its geographic scope, whether it only affects air travel or includes other transport modes, how enforceable such a measure will be in reality, the conditions and process for withdrawing it and, critically, what cross-industry measures UK Government will now take as a matter of urgency to support a sector which will be grounded for the foreseeable future.”

They urge: “Any quarantine must be as limited and short in duration as possible, kept under permanent review and applied only in the absence of workable, evidence-led and risk-based alternatives.”

And the aviation chiefs suggest “a cautious, controlled restart to passenger air travel” would be “the right approach”.

They argue: “Agreeing new health protocols to get aviation going again should be the priority, removing any need for wholesale quarantine measures.”

The letter is signed by industry leaders including Airlines UK chief executive Tim Alderslade, Jet2.com chief executive Steve Heapy, Ryanair chief executive Edward Wilson, easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren, TUI Aviation chief executive Kenton Jarvis, Airport Operators Association chief executive Karen Dee, Heathrow Airport chief executive John Holland-Kaye, Gatwick Airport chief executive Stewart Wingate, and Manchester Airports Group chief Charlie Cornish.

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