Plan for travel corridors with Europe to be given
priority
Move would enable people to avoid contentious
quarantine restrictions
Ministers are keen to put the travel plans in place by
July 4
Jim Pickard
and Tanya Powley in London JUNE 24 2020
Transport
secretary Grant Shapps said on Wednesday that agreeing “travel corridors” with
other European countries — which would enable travellers to avoid contentious
quarantine restrictions — was a “massive priority”.
The UK is
set to announce plans for travel corridors with as many as 10 countries on
Monday, and although the list has not been finalised, it is expected to include
France, Spain, Greece, Denmark and Belgium.
Under the
plans, people arriving in the UK from these countries would be exempt from the
14-day quarantine that was introduced on June 8 in an effort to stop a second
wave of coronavirus infections.
Ministers
are keen to put the plans in place by July 4, so that Britons would have the
chance to go on holidays in the Mediterranean without being affected by
quarantine restrictions.
This is
also the date when people in England will be allowed to go on domestic holidays
following the latest phase of lockdown easing.
The UK’s
quarantine policy for the pandemic was introduced much later than many other
countries, some of which are now easing the restrictions, including certain
European nations.
A key
component of the UK’s infrastructure is on its knees
Karen Dee,
chief executive, Airport Operators Association
Boris
Johnson justified the policy as a means to prevent a fresh surge in virus
infections in the UK.
But
business groups have argued that the quarantine restrictions are unnecessary,
and further damage the economy that is reeling from the Covid-19 crisis.
Mr Shapps
on Wednesday for the first time set out the criteria by which travel corridors
can be agreed with other countries.
He said the
UK would consider the level and trajectory of Covid-19 infections in other
nations as well as whether countries had proper social distancing rules and a
test and trace system for the virus — or something equivalent.
Mr Shapps
defended the quarantine restrictions, although he admitted there were arguments
inside the government about whether it should have been introduced sooner in
the crisis.
He said
Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, had told him the policy would
“not be a solution” to tackling the virus from the outset.
The
aviation industry has a call scheduled with the government on Thursday to
discuss the possible introduction of travel corridors with European countries
and the quarantine policy.
British
Airways, easyJet and Ryanair this month started legal action against the
government over the policy, calling it “flawed".
Mr Shapps,
meanwhile, said that the virus had been a “complete disaster” for airlines and
airports, including ground handlers. “I understand entirely the pain that
aviation is going through,” he added.
Swissport,
one of the leading airport ground handlers in Britain, announced plans on
Wednesday to halve its UK and Ireland workforce by cutting more than 4,500
jobs.
Karen Dee,
chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, a trade body, said the
job losses showed a “key component of the UK’s infrastructure is on its knees”.
She called
on the government to revoke the blanket quarantine restrictions as soon as
possible and introduce a measured approach, such as travel corridors with other
countries.
The Airport
Operators Association said up to 20,000 jobs were now at risk within the
industry
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