Pressure group Airlines UK has written to Shapps with a blueprint for change ahead of the announcement.
The letter said the government had failed to restart the industry, putting many jobs at risk: “In Europe, passenger bookings recovered to 50% of pre-crisis levels in June, compared to just 16% here in the UK.
"Demand to the UK from the US remains only around 20% of 2019 levels, whereas to the EU it is around 65%.”
The letter said the situation was “not surprising” due to how the traffic light system was implemented.
“The decision to remove Portugal from the green list, closely followed by the Balearics, with both changes being made less than a month after initial inclusion on the green list, has brought travel purchasing back to the same fraught position as last year.”
It added: “The impact of the France decision cannot be under-estimated, with the risks – even if fully jabbed – associated with travelling to amber countries (and being forced to self-isolate and pay for more expensive tests on return to the UK) now paramount in people’s minds.”
Airlines UK said the system could be adjusted to allow the fully vaccinated to travel “without restriction”, alongside steps to reduce current restrictions for green and amber categories.
It called for:
- Exemption for all fully vaccinated passengers arriving from amber countries, including from the EU and US. Airlines UK said amber quarantine exemption for fully vaccinated UK residents only covered around 40% of pre-crisis travel volumes from these countries
- Many more low-risk countries to go onto the green list. The requirement for travellers from green countries to take expensive PCR tests “should be scrapped”, and UK travellers should be able to use free tests pre-departure
- The removal of VAT on PCR tests and a move away from the use of them in all circumstances
Airlines UK also called for targeted economic support, including:
- An extension of the Covid Job Retention Scheme for aviation workers next winter
- Extended repayment deadlines for government loans “to reflect the longer-than-expected period of suppressed revenue compared to when schemes were established”
- New "restart grants" for carriers, based on the surplus capacity airlines have relative to 2019.
