following article was in today's Sunday Telegraph:-
Aviation firms braced for quarantine ‘suffocation’
Manchester Airports Group chairman Sir Adrian Montague warns that airport testing will not save the industry
The largest airport outside London has accused ministers of “suffocating the aviation sector”, as flight hubs send mayday signals and warn Boris Johnson’s “levelling up” pledge is at risk.
Sir Adrian Montague, chairman of Manchester Airports Group, which also owns the package holiday hub Stansted, condemned the quarantine on travellers from Spain as “unnecessary”.
He called for a “more proportionate” approach such as the reintroduction of “travel corridors” to the Balearic and Canary Islands. Meanwhile, a testing regime to save millions of Britons’ overseas holidays will not be in place in time, the ex-Aviva chairman warned. Sir Adrian said: “If we cut ourselves off from the important low-risk areas, we are going to suffocate the recovery of the aviation sector.
“We have got six weeks left of the holiday season and if the Government was able to be more tactical in the way that it approached quarantine… then that would unlock holidays for people.”
The Telegraph can reveal that auditors to Birmingham Airport raised a “material uncertainty” over its future. Bosses concluded that the business was a viable going concern, however.
The Telegraph has also learnt that Gatwick has delayed a consultation of its planned runway expansion until next year, which a spokesman said was “in light of the current coronavirus pandemic”.
Edinburgh, Scotland’s busiest airport, confirmed plans to cut a third of its workforce on Friday.
Rothschild, the investment bank, is holding weekly calls with airports on behalf of ministers to monitor their finances under “Project Spring”, sources said.
Andrew Bell, the boss of Regional & City Airports, whose portfolio includes Exeter, Bournemouth and Norwich, urged the Government to “act now” to deliver on its election mandate to level up the economy.
Last week, John Holland-Kaye, the Heathrow boss, said a two-stage testing regime could be introduced within two weeks to rescue the tourism season.
Sir Adrian labelled the plans “clunky” and said they would not be running within the next six weeks.
“For summer holidays, it is the here and now and what we need is a more proportionate response... [It makes sense] if you are trying to revive traffic to the States, which I think is Heathrow’s principal objective.”
The Prime Minister promised to invest in new transport and other infrastructure projects to narrow the gap between London and the regions.
Regional airlines and airports felt let down in March when ministers refused to bail out Flybe, the collapse of which sent shock waves through the sector.
A government spokesman said: “We are willing to consider the situation of individual firms, once all other government schemes and commercial options have been explored, including raising capital from existing investors. This government remains absolutely committed to levelling up all parts of the UK.”
Aviation firms braced for quarantine ‘suffocation’
Manchester Airports Group chairman Sir Adrian Montague warns that airport testing will not save the industry
The largest airport outside London has accused ministers of “suffocating the aviation sector”, as flight hubs send mayday signals and warn Boris Johnson’s “levelling up” pledge is at risk.
Sir Adrian Montague, chairman of Manchester Airports Group, which also owns the package holiday hub Stansted, condemned the quarantine on travellers from Spain as “unnecessary”.
He called for a “more proportionate” approach such as the reintroduction of “travel corridors” to the Balearic and Canary Islands. Meanwhile, a testing regime to save millions of Britons’ overseas holidays will not be in place in time, the ex-Aviva chairman warned. Sir Adrian said: “If we cut ourselves off from the important low-risk areas, we are going to suffocate the recovery of the aviation sector.
“We have got six weeks left of the holiday season and if the Government was able to be more tactical in the way that it approached quarantine… then that would unlock holidays for people.”
The Telegraph can reveal that auditors to Birmingham Airport raised a “material uncertainty” over its future. Bosses concluded that the business was a viable going concern, however.
The Telegraph has also learnt that Gatwick has delayed a consultation of its planned runway expansion until next year, which a spokesman said was “in light of the current coronavirus pandemic”.
Edinburgh, Scotland’s busiest airport, confirmed plans to cut a third of its workforce on Friday.
Rothschild, the investment bank, is holding weekly calls with airports on behalf of ministers to monitor their finances under “Project Spring”, sources said.
Andrew Bell, the boss of Regional & City Airports, whose portfolio includes Exeter, Bournemouth and Norwich, urged the Government to “act now” to deliver on its election mandate to level up the economy.
Last week, John Holland-Kaye, the Heathrow boss, said a two-stage testing regime could be introduced within two weeks to rescue the tourism season.
Sir Adrian labelled the plans “clunky” and said they would not be running within the next six weeks.
“For summer holidays, it is the here and now and what we need is a more proportionate response... [It makes sense] if you are trying to revive traffic to the States, which I think is Heathrow’s principal objective.”
The Prime Minister promised to invest in new transport and other infrastructure projects to narrow the gap between London and the regions.
Regional airlines and airports felt let down in March when ministers refused to bail out Flybe, the collapse of which sent shock waves through the sector.
A government spokesman said: “We are willing to consider the situation of individual firms, once all other government schemes and commercial options have been explored, including raising capital from existing investors. This government remains absolutely committed to levelling up all parts of the UK.”
