Easyjet calls on government to use quarantine rules for only a short period
Low-cost carrier Easyjet today said that the government should only keep quarantine requirements for people entering the UK in place for a “short period”.
Last night Prime Minister Boris Johnson had announced that mandatory quarantine for air passengers coming into the UK would soon be put in place.
He said: “And to prevent re-infection from abroad, I am serving notice that it will soon be the time – with transmission significantly lower – to impose quarantine on people coming into this country by air”.
The measures are another blow to the airline industry, which has been battered by the coronavirus crisis, forcing many carriers to ground the majority of their fleets in response.
In a statement, Easyjet said: “Quarantine requirements for passengers should only be in place for a short period, while the UK remains in lockdown.
“Requirements should be regularly reviewed to ensure they are targeted and proportionate and do not unnecessarily constrain the important role that air travel will have in the UK’s economic recovery.”
The UK aviation industry had previously been told that incoming passengers would have to quarantine for 14 days and would have to give a registered address to authorities.
Ahead of the Prime Minister’s speech, the chief executive of industry body Airlines UK, Tim Alderslade, said:
“Public health must of course be the priority and we respect the Sage advice. We all – including Government – need to adapt to the new normal but closing off air travel in this way is not the way to achieve this.
“Ministers are effectively telling people they can no longer travel for the foreseeable future and airlines will respond to that by grounding their operations – and that is why they require urgent additional government support to get through this growing crisis.”