In the face of new travel restrictions, the chief executive officers of the United Kingdom’s biggest airlines have written to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking for financial assistance and a scaled-back testing regime. The airline bosses say further travel uncertainty is set to cause the industry ongoing financial pain.
UK PM accused of a “haphazard and disproportionate” travel strategy
The letter cosigned by airline luminaries such as British Airways’ CEO Sean Doyle, Virgin Atlantic’s CEO Shai Weiss, and Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary says the Prime Minister has disrupted the travel plans of millions by taking a “haphazard and disproportionate” travel strategy. The outcome is, UK-based airlines have only sold about 30% of their available seat inventory this winter.
Also signing the letter were the CEOs of Loganair, Jet2, Tui, easyJet, and airline lobby group Airlines UK. The UK Government has agreed to a meeting between the airline bosses and officials later on Monday. The overnight release of the letter is a pre-emptive shot across the Government’s bows by the UK airline industry.
“We and our customers feel sincerely let down, having believed a more pragmatic, evidence-led approach to travel, in line with the rest of the world, had been achieved and agreed by all concerned just a few months ago,” the letter reads.
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An expensive and ever-changing testing regime upsets UK airline bosses
What seems to have upset the airlines is a constantly evolving set of travel and quarantine rules that are causing Britons to stay home. Ideally, the airlines would like the UK Government to scrap all testing for fully vaccinated travelers.
This week, the…