Corporate travel firms call for business air bridges to avoid quarantine
The UK’s business travel sector has called on the government to create industry-specific air bridges to European business hubs in order to sidestep the current 14-day quarantine plan.
In a letter to home secretary Priti Patel and transport secretary Grant Shapps, Clive Wratten, chief executive of the Business Travel Association, proposed three pilot travel corridors to Paris, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam.
Wratten added that the plan, which was first reported by the Telegraph, could be implemented within seven days.
He said that all overseas travellers entering the UK from the destinations could be given an on-the-spot test to see whether they had the disease.
Wratten wrote: “We believe that you urgently need to move from a blanket to a targeted approach for arrivals to the UK.
“Keeping a blanket quarantine in place for even the three weeks before your first review puts thousands of jobs at risk.
If the trial proved successful, he added, “it will then offer a clear and tested route that enables you to lessen quarantine restrictions for both leisure and business travellers.
“It will provide a much sought after and immediate stimulus for the British economy”, he added.
The current plan, which would see all incoming travellers to England forced to quarantine for 14 days, has met with dismay from across the UK business landscape.
Airline bosses have been among the most vocal critics, with Easyjet, British Airways, and Ryanair launching legal action against the plan.
A group of 500 or so travel and hospitality firms have also formed a group in an attempt to quash the quarantine measures.
The BTA’s membership employs 14,500 people in the UK, and brings in £11.5bn in revenue every year.
However, the rise of video conferencing tools such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams have led many to question whether business travel will return in the same form after coronavirus restrictions are lifted.
Heathrow Airport boss John Holland-Kaye told City PM that he expected business travel to be the last part of the aviation picture to return.
He did, however, insist that it would return, saying that demand would still be there after the crisis.