Prime minister Boris Johnson on Sunday (10 May) confirmed the UK would follow France’s lead and insist all new arrivals undertake a fortnight’s quarantine. The measure is expected to be introduced and enforced later this month, with arrivals from France and Ireland exempted.

However, Iata has urged governments around the world not to slow the recovery of the travel, tourism and aviation sectors with quarantine measures, and instead pursue "globally agreed and implemented biosecurity standards".

These could include rapid pre-flight Covid-19 testing, immunity passports, and rigorous health certification and contact tracing.

Balpa has called on the UK government to urgently "refine and clarify" its quarantine proposal.

“A blanket 14-day quarantine period covering the whole world – except Ireland and France apparently – will significantly damage the the travel and tourism industry and therefore the whole economy, said Balpa general secretary Brian Strutton.

"We have seen no evidence that such a blanket policy is needed and would strongly urge the government to move to a targeted and tailored approach according to destination and risk.

“In addition, the industry needs to be able to plan. So far, we don’t know the start date, the proposed end date, when and how the policy will be reviewed, and what the stop and start criteria for the policy might be.

“When other countries are opening up their borders and using evidence-led, targeted approaches, this feels like a bludgeon which will simply do huge economic harm. We also need to see more details such as what the list of exemptions might be – that must include crew, although we have not had that confirmed yet.”