‘Give us clarity on testing and quarantine,’ demands airport boss

Exclusive: ‘When you’ve got a transport secretary telling everybody not to book holidays, you start to wonder’ – Glyn Jones, CEO London Southend

Rare sight: Ryanair Boeing 737 at London Southend airport (Aaron Chesham)

The boss of one of London’s airports has demanded more clarity about the hurdles that British holidaymakers will face when returning to the United Kingdom.

At present all international leisure travel is banned from the UK, though that may end on 17 May.

But unless the law changes, everyone returning from abroad faces three Covid tests and 10 days of self-isolation.

Glyn Jones, chief executive of London Southend airport, told The Independent: ‘It’s one thing to say ‘it is no longer illegal to fly without a good reason’. But without clarity around the logistical dimension and the cost dimension it doesn’t really change the world that much.

“There’s no clarity on whether people will still need to have tests or, indeed, what will happen with quarantine.

“Even though the principal brake, which is the law [banning all international travel], comes off in the middle of May, the other brakes remain on.

A test, Mr Jones said, might cost three to four times a Ryanair ticket.

“It’s just not sustainable,” he said. “You do have to start to wonder why we are going to need testing when so many people have been vaccinated?”

He said bookings will continue to be slow until the regime for returning holidaymakers is clearer.

“People are waiting to see what the world looks like in a couple of months’ time. So I suspect you’re going to end up with that horribly difficult situation for the airline where, they can’t really see enough forward bookings coming in.

“They wait and wait and wait – and then when they start to see them, they’ve got such a short booking window that they may not put the flight on anyway.

“It’s a very delicately balanced position.”

The airport boss described the government’s help for aviation as “risible”.

“When you’ve got a transport secretary telling everybody not to book holidays, you start to wonder.”

“Telling people not to take their holidays when the government has said it is legal to do so after the middle of May is a little sad.”

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, is one of several ministers and other senior politicians who have urged prospective travellers not to book holidays.

After the recent Budget, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said: “The extension of government-backed loans and furlough payments build on around £7 billion of support already pledged by government, benefiting the sector since the start of the pandemic.

“These measures will help ensure this vital and vibrant part of the UK economy is ready to bounce back in the wake of the pandemic.”

In the 12 months to February 2021, Southend airport lost 93 per cent of its passengers compared with the previous year.