The boss of Manchester Airports Group (MAG) has denounced the government’s handling of travel corridors and quarantine rules during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Charlie Cornish, chief executive of MAG – which owns Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports – said: “There has been no evidence of any recognition from the government of the need to protect the travel industry and enable it to recover from what is undoubtedly the biggest crisis it has ever faced.”
He criticised the lack of financial support, which has been worsened by the government’s “sluggish, chaotic and illogical approach to travel restrictions”.
Highlighting the impact of widespread job losses as passenger numbers tumbled, he said: “If reports are to be believed, our government was due to debate taking a more realistic and passenger-friendly approach to quarantine decisions on Monday at its Covid Committee.
“But this meeting didn’t happen, and we hear it’s now due to happen today (Thursday August 27).
“It’s not the first time a critical decision in this area has been put off, with no credible explanation for the delay.”
He added: “We see no signs that [the government] wants to avoid further jobs losses, or an appreciation of the critical role airports will have in the economic revival of regions across the country as we gingerly emerge from this crippling pandemic.
“This is in stark contrast to the approach we have seen taken by numerous governments around the world, whose decisive action to protect their aviation sectors makes clear how much value they attach to them.
“From the very start of this pandemic, we have appealed for a support package for airports. But our request for business rates relief was ignored, despite lockdown.
“By contrast, Germany has secured EU state aid approval, in order to compensate airports for lost revenue and protect their futures.
“The failure to recognise the need for direct financial support was disappointing to say the least, but perhaps not surprising when you consider our government already places its airports at a competitive disadvantage by levying some of the highest passenger taxes in the world.
“But the impact of this decision has been amplified many times over by its sluggish, chaotic and illogical approach to travel restrictions, an area where we have watched other nations move quickly and decisively while our government has remained in its own decision-making lockdown.”
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He said travel corridors were agreed following a period of “stubborn procrastination”, which is another example of “this cabinet’s inability to rise above division, put their heads down and agree a common-sense answer”.
“A few short weeks after the key Spanish travel corridor was established, it was effectively closed off again. For those planning a trip, there was a glimmer of hope that the Balearic and Canary Islands could remain restriction-free,” he added.
“But that prospect was whipped away quicker than a poolside towel left unattended for too long, as Foreign and Commonwealth Advice was aligned with the blanket quarantine rule without clear evidence and announced via media with hours to go before being implemented.
“Catalonia is closer to Dundee than it is to Gran Canaria, making this blanket approach not only unnecessary and illogical, but hugely damaging to an already-ailing sector.
“As things stand, around 50% of the most popular markets with British tourists have effectively been closed off.
“Some will point to positive news about Portugal becoming restriction-free again, but with so little of our summer remaining, so many popular destinations needlessly closed off, so many jobs at risk and so little confidence our prime minister understands this urgency, you can understand why our industry feels left behind.”
As the largest UK-owned airport operator, MAG contributes more than £7 billion to the UK economy and sees more than 60 million passengers each year.
This time last year, more than 280,000 passengers passed through Stansted in one weekend. This year, the figure will be less than a third of that.
At Manchester, 12 months ago more than 115,000 people flew in a single day. A year on, it will welcome 25,000 travellers.