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(Recasts with minister's comments)
By Sarah Young
LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Britain's transport minister said
on Wednesday that his coronavirus testing plans would get more
people flying in the months ahead, sounding an optimistic note
at a time when travel companies are struggling to survive.
A 14-day quarantine for arrivals from most countries could
be replaced by an as-yet unspecified shorter isolation period
followed by a negative test result under plans that Transport
Minister Grant Shapps set out last week.
"I believe the measures I've outlined will result in
significantly more people flying in the months ahead," Shapps
told a virtual ABTA travel industry association event.
Airlines have cut back their already anaemic flying
schedules for autumn due to mounting travel restrictions as a
second wave of infections spreads across Europe.
Shapps said the government was working hard to get the new
arrivals regime in place; final details are due in early
November.
"A lot of the key decisions, a lot of the science and a lot
of work has already gone on, and this is in order to implement
it," he said.
The International Air Transport Association has said the
plan does not go far enough, because 80% of travellers told it
they would not fly at all if any quarantine were in place.
ABTA, representing 4,300 UK travel brands, urged the
government to provide more support. Tens of thousands of jobs
have already been axed in travel and more losses are certain
when a government job support scheme ends this month.
Shapps said his focus was on enabling travel:
"Being able to open up more travel corridors by enabling
test-and-release, and indeed removing quarantine entirely, would
be bluntly better than anything that the taxpayer could do to
support."
He said a recovery plan for the aviation industry would be
set out later this autumn.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Kate Holton and Kevin
Liffey)
