Manchester Airport is looking for the federal government to introduce a simplified two-tier system for worldwide journey, as contemporary knowledge revealed the UK aviation sector is slipping even additional behind in its restoration.
It comes as MAG reported that its passenger numbers for August had been 68 per cent down on the identical month in 2019.
The corporate is the biggest airport group within the UK and owns and operates Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports.
Figures additionally confirmed that Manchester Airport served roughly 1.5 million passengers between June and August this yr, which was solely 16 per cent of the just about ten million passengers over the identical interval in 2019.
This sluggish restoration is regardless of greater than 80 per cent of the grownup inhabitants being double-vaccinated, in comparison with a yr earlier when the immunisation programme was not even underway.
ONS knowledge from June confirmed that aviation stays the worst hit UK sector, with exercise nonetheless greater than 90 per cent down on pre-pandemic ranges, in comparison with meals and leisure sectors which have seen a gradual enhance in enterprise over current months.
MAG says the visitors mild system have to be reformed urgently – and forward of the scheduled October 1st assessment date – to guard the journey sector via the winter season and restore shopper confidence now for bookings subsequent summer time.
It has known as on the federal government to usher in a simplified two-tier system and take away necessary testing necessities for totally vaccinated arrivals from international locations with out new, regarding Covid-19 variants.
The introduction of a two-tier system would see the vast majority of worldwide markets open for journey because the default, with solely these international locations which pose a big public well being danger from new variants topic to journey restrictions reminiscent of testing and a interval of quarantine.
This proposal would take away the chaos and confusion attributable to the visitors mild system and restore shopper confidence by decreasing issues about last-minute adjustments which have been commonplace this summer time.
Together with a simplified system, ending necessary PCR testing for totally vaccinated passengers would take away a expensive and pointless barrier to journey and produce the journey coverage again according to Europe.
The federal government has beforehand justified the necessity for these exams as a result of they permit for monitoring of variants amongst inbound passengers, however the newest government-published knowledge exhibits that fewer than 30 per cent of constructive check outcomes are literally sequenced to determine variants.
Collectively, these adjustments would enable for the fuller and extra sustainable restoration UK aviation requires because it closes the door on two misplaced summer time durations.
MAG chief govt, Charlie Cornish, mentioned: “Totally-vaccinated British residents can solely look on in envy as individuals throughout Europe benefit from the freedom to journey simply to low-risk vacation locations.
“With restrictions nearly completely eliminated throughout the UK, now’s the time to offer individuals again these freedoms to discover, chill out and go to family members.
“The over-cautious and unnecessarily advanced visitors mild system is complicated to clients and locations useless limitations in the way in which of them reserving journey.
“The affect that’s having on our sector is evident, with visitors ranges recovering at a a lot larger fee throughout Europe than right here within the UK.
“In the meantime, the remainder of the economic system has been opened-up to those that are double-jabbed, leaving journey as the one sector whose restoration is being held again for no logical purpose.
“An easier, extra smart strategy to worldwide journey have to be adopted as quickly as potential, and authorities has the chance to ship that in response to proposals put ahead by MAG and others in our sector within the weeks forward.”
MAG joins each Heathrow and ABTA in calling for an finish to the visitors mild journey system.
