Labour has written to Transport Secretary to demand he contact every airline flying into the UK
in a bid to avoid huge delays at airports this summer.
, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, said action
needs to be taken after Shapps said on Friday that “people should
expect more disruption than usual” when going abroad.
In his letter, McMahon wrote:
“While it’s right to manage expectations, Government ministers
are not merely commentators on the situation – they are empowered
to seek to address problems they foresee.
“So can I ask you whether you have met or spoken with every
airline that flies into the UK from a Green or Amber list country
to talk them through the new processes and ensure that their
staff will know how operate this new system as speedily as
possible?”
He noted that there is still time to fix the issue before major
problems arise and people face the prospect of mixing with those
arriving from higher risk countries in arrivals halls.
The letter goes on:
“The unlock date is still 10 days away. Ministers should be
actively working with the industry and major UK tourist
destination airports to create a process that is both safe,
appropriate but also workable.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
Full copy of the letter to the Transport Secretary:
9th July 2021
Dear Grant,
I am writing to you after your media appearances this morning,
when you spoke of the challenges passengers would face going
aboard this summer.
On BBC breakfast, you said:
“The real backlog will be from the place you’re coming from” and
that “People should expect more disruption than usual”
While it’s right to manage expectations, Government ministers are
not merely commentators on the situation – they are empowered to
seek to address problems they foresee.
The unlock date is still 10 days away. Ministers should be
actively working with the industry and major UK tourist
destination airports to create a process that is both safe,
appropriate but also workable.
So can I ask you whether you have met or spoken with every
airline that flies into the UK from a Green or Amber list
country, to talk them through the new processes and ensure that
their staff will know how operate this new system as speedily as
possible?
Is the Government confident that all airlines flying from these
destinations can read the UK’s NHS app and understand when to
allow a traveller on board or when not to? Would these challenges
not highlight the need for an international vaccine passport, or
at least international agreement on how a Covid passport might
work?
As I asked you yesterday, whilst we have our own Covid passport
via the NHS app there have been issues with other countries
accepting this as sufficient proof entering into those countries.
Do you know how many countries now accept the Covid passport of
the NHS app as proof of someone’s Covid or vaccine status?
Finally, you noted in your BBC interview that more UK Border
Force staff will be stationed at UK airports to deal with the
expecting increase in traveller numbers. How many more officers
will there be and what is your target time for how long will a
traveller should expect to have to wait to go through a major UK
airport such as Heathrow?
Yours sincerely,
Jim
