MAG responds to the Government's announcement on international travel

Charlie Cornish, MAG CEO, said: “Many people will be frustrated that today’s announcement by the Transport Secretary does not allow for a broader restart of international travel, with so few countries on the initial green list. 

“The aviation industry will be especially concerned that the Government appears to have ignored clear scientific evidence, which shows that testing and vaccinations can support safe travel to a larger group of low-risk destinations. 

“The British public will understandably question why our world-leading vaccination programme has not earned them the freedom to travel abroad without expensive and inconvenient tests - a freedom that other governments, including the European Union, will be giving to people who have been vaccinated. 

“Aviation supports more than 1m jobs and generates billions of pounds of economic value but is being held back by much tighter controls than any other industry. The industry has been impacted more than any other sector, and we need the same positive recovery plan that other parts of the UK economy have been given.

“It is essential that we see meaningful progress towards restarting international travel at the first review of the green list in the next few weeks, ahead of the peak summer season.

“It is also vital Government explores fairer and smarter ways to protect the UK from variants of concern, removing the need for all arriving passengers to take costly and inconvenient PCR tests and mirroring the approach being taken by other countries.

“A true aviation recovery plan is needed to ensure it can play its part in the recovery of the UK economy as a whole.”

Notes to editors: MAG is the UK’s largest airport group and owns and operates Manchester Airport, London Stansted Airport and East Midlands Airport.