UK airlines respond to Government announcement on pre-departure testing for arrivals

January 8th, 2021

Responding to the announcement by the Government that air passengers will be required to take a Covid test before travelling back to the UK, Tim Alderslade, Chief Executive of Airlines UK, the industry association representing UK-registered carriers, said:

“We recognise the UK Government’s need to act now and support the introduction of pre-departure testing in order to keep the country safe and borders open. However, this should be a short-term, emergency measure only and once the roll-out of the vaccine accelerates, the focus must be on returning travel to normal as quickly as possible in order to support the UK’s economic recovery. This includes removing the need to quarantine or test as the UK population is vaccinated and the virus is brought under control at home and abroad. Ultimately, cheaper and quicker testing is required to ensure travel can be accessible while testing is required but then needs to be unwound once vaccinations and the overall threat of Covid recedes.”