The aviation sector is recovering at just half the rate of the rest of Europe due to the UK’s traffic light system and travel restrictions, according to Manchester airport.
The requirement for passengers to pay for PCR tests, even when fully vaccinated and returning from low-risk destinations, is “out of step” with the rest of Europe and holding back the recovery of UK airports and airlines.
The airport said that since the review of the traffic light system on August 4, which saw more countries added to the green and amber lists, volumes have picked up slightly but remain significantly below pre-pandemic levels.
More: Gatwick demands relaxation of Covid travel test rules
The north-west gateway revealed passenger numbers down almost 86% last month against July 2019 when the airport served 3.1 million travellers, compared to just 447,954 in the same month this year.
The latest traffic figures come as data from Airports Council International – Europe (ACI Europe) show that Europe’s airports are serving around 59% of pre-pandemic traffic, compared to just 28% in the UK.
The UK’s blanket requirement for PCR testing and pre-departure testing differs to the approach taken by most European countries, which are allowing fully vaccinated passengers to travel between low-risk destinations without having to take any tests.
The government has said PCR testing is needed to enable genomic sequencing to take place to identify variants of concern, but the latest official data shows only around 5% are actually being sent for sequencing and brings into question the need for passengers to take these tests, the airport said.
While the Competition and Markets Authority has been asked to probe the testing industry to see if there are ways to reduce prices, this data highlights the need to scrap the blanket requirement for PCR tests altogether for vaccinated travellers to make travel more affordable.
Airport managing director Karen Smart said: “While it is encouraging that more people are taking the opportunity to go on holiday or visit friends and family overseas, we are still yet to see a meaningful recovery in international travel.
“We won’t see a proper sustained recovery until the UK overhauls its costly and restrictive travel regime, which is out of step with the rest of Europe.
“UK passengers continue to be subjected to onerous and expensive PCR testing on the basis they will be sequenced to protect the UK from variants of concern, but it is clear this is not happening.
“Passengers – especially those who are fully vaccinated – will be right to question why they are forced to pay the extra cost for tests which are not being used in the way we were told they would be.
“Meanwhile, the recovery of our sector – which supports millions of jobs of billions of pounds in economic value – continues to lag significantly behind the rest of Europe as a result of excessive restrictions in place in the UK.
“We need a simple and sustainable system for travel, which people can understand and that is proportionate to the public health position here in the UK.
“The government must act urgently to review the system and re-evaluate the need for expensive PCR tests.”
The call followed leading Conservative MPs urging the cost of PCR tests be capped at £40 where needed.