Heathrow airport says on-site covid tests will help save jobs
Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2020 6:44 am
LONDON: Heathrow Airport, once Europe’s busiest airport, called on Britain to urgently back a passenger testing regime, warning that without one, strict quarantine rules will stop travel, stall the economy and lead to more job losses.
Heathrow said that to avoid losing a game of global “quarantine roulette”, the government should cut quarantine from 14 days to around eight days for passengers who take two tests over the course of a week.
The worst public health crisis since the 1918 influenza outbreak has wrought turmoil across the world and just as the travel industry restarted there are now fears of a second wave of shutdowns after Britain hastily imposed a quarantine on travelers from Spain.
“The UK needs a passenger testing regime and fast,” Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said. “Without it, Britain is just playing a game of quarantine roulette.”
The cost of a coronavirus test at the airport would be about 150 pounds ($195) per person and the passenger would be expected to pay, Holland-Kaye told Reuters on Wednesday.
While he conceded that was not cheap, he said consumers and business travelers would be prepared to pay, and it would help Britain protect its aviation industry, which has already announced over 20,000 job cuts, and facilitate trade.
“We are an island nation – we cannot cut ourselves off from the world for the foreseeable future,” Holland-Kaye told the BBC.
Quarantine rules are in place for arrivals to Britain from the United States, a lucrative market for Heathrow accounting for 20 percent of its traffic, as well as countries such as India and Spain.
#IndustryAviation #NewsAviation# Worldaviationblog#Aviaton #AvNews#HeatheowAirport #SilverBullet#BritishAirways#Covid19#Savejobs#Qurantine#Collinson#SwissAirport
Heathrow said that to avoid losing a game of global “quarantine roulette”, the government should cut quarantine from 14 days to around eight days for passengers who take two tests over the course of a week.
The worst public health crisis since the 1918 influenza outbreak has wrought turmoil across the world and just as the travel industry restarted there are now fears of a second wave of shutdowns after Britain hastily imposed a quarantine on travelers from Spain.
“The UK needs a passenger testing regime and fast,” Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said. “Without it, Britain is just playing a game of quarantine roulette.”
The cost of a coronavirus test at the airport would be about 150 pounds ($195) per person and the passenger would be expected to pay, Holland-Kaye told Reuters on Wednesday.
While he conceded that was not cheap, he said consumers and business travelers would be prepared to pay, and it would help Britain protect its aviation industry, which has already announced over 20,000 job cuts, and facilitate trade.
“We are an island nation – we cannot cut ourselves off from the world for the foreseeable future,” Holland-Kaye told the BBC.
Quarantine rules are in place for arrivals to Britain from the United States, a lucrative market for Heathrow accounting for 20 percent of its traffic, as well as countries such as India and Spain.
#IndustryAviation #NewsAviation# Worldaviationblog#Aviaton #AvNews#HeatheowAirport #SilverBullet#BritishAirways#Covid19#Savejobs#Qurantine#Collinson#SwissAirport