Airlines UK response to the Transport Select Committee report on aviation and the pandemic

April 25th, 2022

Tim Alderslade, CEO of Airlines UK, said:

“We always said there was huge pent-up demand for travel and that’s been demonstrated by the surge in bookings we’ve seen since the Covid restrictions were removed. This summer should be a bumper one and for many routes we’re seeing demand above where we were in 2019. But we can’t lose sight of the fact the sector has been through its worst ever crisis and it will take several years to deal with the debt airlines had to take on to make it through the pandemic with no passengers.

“The Government is about to publish an Aviation Strategy and we need it to focus ruthlessly on the areas where they can really make a difference, including setting the policy framework that will allow the sector to introduce and invest in sustainable aviation fuels at scale, and modernising the UK’s airspace as quickly as possible to further progress our net zero commitments. On so many of the Government’s big set-piece policy ambitions – Global Britain, energy independence, investment in skills and the green jobs of the future – aviation can play its part, and begin the process of putting the past two years behind us.”