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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 in
Europe.
Shapps said the government was working hard to get the new
arrivals regime in place and much of the work had already been
done, with another approach also being considered for
pre-departure testing. Final details due in early November.
British Airways said in a statement it backed pre-flight
testing, "where travellers arriving in the UK all have a
negative test up to 72 hours before flying".
But the International Air Transport Association has said the
plan does not go far enough, because 80% of travellers will not
fly it there is any quarantine in place.
Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss told the event
that a travel testing regime was urgently needed.
After a 1.2 billion pound rescue and nearly 5,000 job cuts,
Virgin is prepared for a severe downturn which continues into
next year, but he warned that beyond that there would be airline
failures.
"At some point if borders do not open up ... there's only a
certain amount of time that you can survive," Weiss said.
ABTA, representing 4,300 UK travel brands, urged the
government to provide more support. Shapps said his focus was on
enabling travel through "test and release".
He said a recovery plan for the aviation industry would be
set out later this autumn.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Kevin Liffey/Jane
Merriman and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
