Support needed fast – not more loans, airlines tell govt

Airlines UK said its members had received no support since furlough ended. Chief executive Tim Alderslade said:  
 
“We are approaching the key booking period for the year and consumer sentiment is shot to pieces, due to the testing requirements imposed on travel that can cost hundreds of pounds when free NHS tests are available in other sectors.
 
“We have a bleak few months ahead with potentially little to no revenue, yet still need to be able to deliver for passengers and UK plc in the spring and summer.”

He warned jobs would be lost, with a cost to the wider economy of “hundreds of millions of pounds” if the sector was not reopened and said loans were not the answer.
 
“Offering more debt to a sector that has already borrowed billions of pounds is not sustainable. Last March the chancellor asked airlines to ‘pursue all possible actions to preserve cash and maximise liquidity’. We’ve done this – and more. Aviation has to be treated on a par with the domestic economy.
 
“Unless government takes action to remove the remaining emergency travel restrictions that it admits are increasingly redundant as Omicron becomes the dominant variant, the chancellor must urgently come to the table with economic support for the aviation industry.”