Failure to publish a report from the new Global Travel Taskforce
to the public on April 12 will rob the aviation industry of
clarity, risking another blow to the stricken sector, says the
Transport Committee in an urgent report, published today. It
should be accompanied by a statement to the House of Commons
which sets out the next steps to recovery.
It is widely hoped that the new Taskforce report will map out a
clear plan for action, affording consumers and industry the
certainty required to plan for summer 2021 and beyond. The
cross-party Transport Committee is urging the Government not to
restrict its report to the Prime Minister alone, a possibility
which emerged following last week’s evidence session.
Providing the four reopening tests which the Government set out
on 22 February are met, the report calls on Government to
maintain the date of May 17 to restart international travel. If
this date is delayed, the financial challenges facing aviation
business could reach critical levels.
The Committee is calling on the Global Travel Taskforce report to
clarify:
- The criteria that destination countries
must meet on vaccine and testing capabilities in order to reopen
for travel with the UK, as well as the requirement that
passengers will need to fulfil in order to travel abroad,
including any relating to digital health certification;
- When and how the current quarantine schemes
will be phased out; and
- How the Government plans to support
industry should variants or high levels of Covid-19 affect the
reopening schedule.
The report follows last week’s evidence session - a progress
update to the Committee’s June 2020 report on the impact of
coronavirus on the aviation sector. Witnesses from across the
aviation sector ranked the need for a clear roadmap above all
other measures.
The Chair of the Transport Committee, , said:
“The call for action came across loud and clear from our
witnesses at last week’s follow-up session on aviation. Airport
operators, airports and airlines told us the situation was
urgent. More than anything else, they need certainty to enable
them to get back into the skies and back to business. The 12
April date should not merely be the date when the Global Travel
Taskforce makes a recommendation on an international travel route
map for the Prime Minister to take forward but, as was expected,
the date when the industry and public are informed by Government
of the way forward.
“Not for the first time, the Transport Committee is calling on
Government to provide a greater degree of certainty for the
aviation sector. The restart and recovery plan promised to us in
the Department for Transport’s response to our aviation report
was scheduled for Autumn 2020 – but has not appeared.
“In last year’s Report, we also called on the Government to drive
forward the development and implementation of global health
standards for the aviation sector. The UK should be ambitious in
this regard. The success of the UK’s vaccination programme should
help clear the UK for take-off.
“Aviation - and the corollary business which supports it, have
made enormous sacrifices over the past year. Government should
take this short report, setting out the immediate priorities for
the restart and recovery of the aviation sector, as evidence of
our commitment to this issue. A rapid response is required.”
Further information:
- The transcript of the Committee’s follow-up session on
aviation is available here.
- The Committee’s report: The impact of the coronavirus
pandemic on the aviation sector, published June 2020, is
available here.
- The Government Response, published in September 2020, is
available here.
