It is also understood that Rishi Sunak has written to the PM calling for the urgent easing of travel restrictions. The chancellor warned that Britain’s border policy was damaging the tourism industry and wider economy.
The Sunday Times reported that in a letter to Boris Johnson, Mr Sunak said the country’s border policy was out of step with our international partners and having a damaging impact on jobs.
Paul Charles, the chief executive of the travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: “The infection rates in the hubs have fallen. Opening them up is vital to the future success of aviation.
“Aviation has grown in recent years on the back of strong interconnectivity at these hubs. Without them, the airlines cannot operate at anything like the capacity they need.
“It would be major progress if they opened the hubs for transit passengers but it is only when they come off the red list that it will make a true difference to the travel sector.”
Istanbul is forecast to become the biggest airport in Europe, with a projected 200million passengers a year dwarfing Heathrow, while UAE hosts one of the world’s biggest airlines, Emirates, which operates to more than150 cities in 80 countries across six continents through a fleet of nearly 300 aircraft.
Joe Biden is also coming under increasing pressure to lift the US travel ban on the UK in order to boost transatlantic trade.
Double-vaccinated US citizens will be able to travel to the UK from Monday without having to quarantine but the US executive order 212(F) banning UK citizens from travelling to the US remains in place.
Seventy seven members of Congress have written to President Biden urging him to lift the order, citing Mayo Clinic research that shows the risk of a person infected with Covid-19 boarding a flight from the UK to the U.S. is one out of 10,000.
Henry Smith, the Tory chair of the all-party future of aviation group, said the
UK-US taskforce must work “much more in concert” rather than UK “just taking unilateral action.”
“It’s time that the executive order 212F (banning non essential travel from the UK) is removed in recognition of the level of the vaccination of the UK population. I would look to the US administration to take a more pragmatic stance and allow much more two way transatlantic travel,” he told the Telegraph.
Originally Appeared On: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/07/31/britain-poised-lift-travel-ban-airport-hubs/