UK Businesses Insist To Relax Air Travel Quarantine Rules For Global Trade To Take Off

Summary

• The current two-week quarantine rule makes it difficult for many important industries to function that are solely dependent on foreign travel
• Top airlines retaliate and seek a legal recourse
• The “Air Bridge” proposal under consideration and expected to be in place by this month end

The current British government’s proposal to quarantine all incoming air travellers into the country has been drawing flack from several sections of the British Industries, government, and civil society. The proposal which is being pushed by one of the most senior members of the Tory Government, Dominic Cummings has been so devised to prevent a second wave of pandemic hitting the country. It is to be noted here that no more corona infections enter UK from abroad. In the United Kingdom, the coronavirus had infected more than 290,000 people till June 11, out of which 41,297 have already succumbed to death.

There are several industries, which are heavily dependent on air travel, and many of the companies belonging to them are already on the brink of collapse, and any delay in resumption in business activity will prove catastrophic.

The industry groups and several elements in the government, however, propose setting up special air corridors between the United Kingdom and countries with whom it frequently trades with so that important business travel may be facilitated. Air corridors which will be in the form of bilateral agreements between the United Kingdom and other countries will result in air travellers in either country not facing quarantine in the other. There are several countries with far fewer infection rates than the United Kingdom, from where people coming into the country will be relatively less risky. The proposed special corridors will not only facilitate the revival of Britain's international trade which has been lying almost dormant since international air travel was banned by the country but also breathe in a new lease of life into the British Airline industry which has been facing its worst crisis ever. The proposal which has the backing of more than a dozen trade bodies in the country and several elements within the government itself, is crucial to ensure early recovery of the British economy form the economic shock delivered by the coronavirus pandemic. It is worth mentioning here that since the graded opening of the British economy last month, much of the domestic economic activity has resumed but not so much has happened on the international trade front.

There are several industries in the United Kingdom which are heavily dependent on international air travel for their survival. The most prominent of them is obviously the British Airline industry, which has been facing a rout ever since domestic air travel was banned followed by a lockdown which stopped all domestic air travel as well. Three of the biggest airlines in the UK namely the British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair have filed a complaint in the High Court and want a judicial review of the UK Government’s rules related to quarantine requirement for air travelers. They are suggesting that instead a policy that only targets passengers from high-risk countries could be in place.

The second most impacted industry is the British education industry which receives thousands of international students every year and brings in much-needed revenues for the British universities. The third and perhaps the most important sector is the British hospitality industry which is facing a very difficult period as revenues have dried up on account of no new bookings and new social distancing rules ensuring very few people willing to book holidays.

There has, however, been a proposal called "Air Bridges” doing the rounds of 10 downing street for quite some time now. The proposal which will not require incoming air travellers and holidaymakers from maintaining strict 14-day quarantine rules will provide a lifeline to many of the industries in the country. The United Kingdom has already reached agreements with Greece and Portugal in this regard, and its diplomats are working with other countries to get them on board as well. Incidentally, the concept of "Air Bridges" is not unique to the United Kingdom and is being pursued by other countries as well. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have a similar arrangement among themselves and are allowing free travel of citizens, while down under Australia and New Zealand are also considering a similar arrangement to facilitate business and leisure travel.

The Home secretary Priti Patel in a statement made to the press on May 22 had stated that all visitors visiting the United Kingdom from June 8^th onwards would have to compulsorily quarantine themselves for fourteen days and must also reveal beforehand the address they would be residing during that period. Currently, there is no restriction on people travelling from Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands and professionals belonging from 40 specialised professions.

The detractors of the mandatory Quarantine rule say that there are at least 1.5 million jobs in the United Kingdom that are directly dependent on international air travel and billions of pounds of revenues have been lost in the past few months. The hardships of associated businesses and associated people are only getting compounding by the day. The advisory given by the Home secretary is indiscriminate and has not considered the plight of these people and the business in their thought process.

Some of the countries where daily confirmed cases of coronavirus infection are far lower than that in Britain (are hence are relatively safe) are France, Spain, Morocco, Greece, Germany, Australia and New Zealand, to mention a few.

The government, on its part, is maintaining that the decisions taken by it are in the best interest of the health of the general public and it is also inactive consultation with industry bodies to address their concerns. On the issue of Air Bridges, the government remains non-committal as to when they would come up. However, according to Government sources, ministers are working hard to operationalize a t least a few of them by the end of this month.