Bosses from eight of the UK’s major airlines have written to the government demanding an end to new PCR testing measures and more economic support for the sector
Top executives at Ryanair Holdings PLC (LSE:RYA), easyJet plc (LSE:EZJ), IAG's (LSE:IAG) British Airways and Jet2 were signatories to the letter that accused the government of a “haphazard and deeply disproportionate” approach to the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
Under the new measures, all arrivals in England irrespective of their vaccination status are required to take a lateral flow test pre-departure and a PCR on their second day here through an approved provider
According to the airline bosses: “Pre-departure and upon-arrival testing clearly add very little value to our Covid protection, but unnecessarily disrupt Christmas for families as well as businesses while severely damaging the UK travel industry.
"Travel has been singled out with the introduction of disproportionate restrictions," said the letter.
They want an end to testing for fully vaccinated passengers in the next UK travel review on 20 December, pointing out that only the UK requires this level of testing.
“A package of bespoke economic support measures should be provided immediately to bridge the sector through this crisis.
“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.
"Instead, the layering of additional travel restrictions, introduced at short notice without consultation or discernible strategy, have disrupted Christmas plans and severely undermined customer sentiment.”
Airlines shares were among the worst performers today with British Airways owner IAG and easyJet down 5%, Ryanair off by 3.7% and Jet2 by 4.8%.
Earlier, pub group JD Wetherspoon Plc (LSE:JDW) warned that the impact of the new restrictions allied to government warnings about the possible impact of Omicron was already having an effect on its business.
Pointing out that many of its customers were elderly and cautious, the FTSE 250 group said: “The implementation of Plan B would ‘affect our first-half results, in particular, which may be loss-making or marginally profitable."
JDW shares fell 6% to 816p.