LONDON, June 3 (Reuters) - The United Kingdom is looking
closely at air bridges to enable some people to travel but
airlines should not be using the government's job retention
scheme as a way to cut thousands of staff, a junior transport
minister said on Wednesday.
"No option is off the table and we are looking very closely
at air bridges which are also known as international corridors,"
Kelly Tolhurst told parliament.
Tolhurst said she regretted the layoffs at some airlines
such as British Airways. When asked if the government should
look at reallocating landing slots, she said:
"We want airport landing and takeoff slots to be used as
effectively as possible for UK consumers and the UK aviation
market ... and I want to ensure the slot allocation process
encourages competition."
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton; editing by
Stephen Addison)