Arrivals by air were down 90%, on average, between April 2020 and July 2021 compared to pre-Covid levels.

More than seven million people arrived in the UK by air in January 2020, and 6.8 million in February. This nearly halved to 3.8 million in March as the pandemic took hold in Europe before falling to just 112,300 in April as the effect of border closures and lockdowns kicked in.

Arrivals all-but flatlined until early July when the government lifted its ban on international travel and introduced the travel corridor system.

However, air passenger arrivals in July 2020 still amounted to just 11% of 2019 levels (1.26 million). The rebound was more pronounced in August when there were 3.1 million air passenger arrivals (down 74% on 2019 levels) and in September when there were 2.76 million (down 75% on 2019 levels).

However, since then, monthly UK air passenger arrivals have consistently been down anywhere between 82% and 95% on 2019 levels.

The latest Home Office data shows there were 1.44 million UK air passenger arrivals in July 2021, up marginally on July 2020 but still down 87% on July 2019 levels when there were 11.15 million UK air passenger arrivals.