Covid: Aviation bosses call for more cash in wake of testing plans

New rules set to be announced later this week will require passengers on flights, trains or ferries to prove they have tested negative for Covid-19

(AFP via Getty Images)

Britain’s embattled aviation industry today called for fresh financial support after it emerged the Government plans a tough new testing regime for travellers arriving in England.

New rules set to be announced later this week will require passengers on flights, trains or ferries to prove they have tested negative for Covid-19 within the previous 72 hours.

No announcements have been made but Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove told BBC Breakfast this morning: “The Government is looking at further restrictions.”

It is not yet clear whether the test result requirement will apply to just foreign visitors or British nationals too.

However, all arriving passengers from most countries will continue to have to quarantine for 10 days or pay for a private PCR test on the fifth day to enable them to leave home.

Aviation bosses called the latest clampdown a “devastating blow” that will further delay recovery in one of the most severely hit sectors.

Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, said a new package of support measures for the sector “must include covering operational losses during the current heightened restrictions and extending all existing forms of support until aviation is able to operate free from the barriers that have prevented any meaningful recovery to date”.

The latest rules stop short of banning travel altogether but the Government website says people may only travel where they “first have a legally permitted reason to leave home”.

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