LONDON (Reuters) – The new head of British Airways said vaccinated people should be allowed to travel without restrictions and unvaccinated people with a negative COVID-19 test, as he set out his ideas for a resumption of the trip a month before the UK government finalized plans.
Holidays will not be allowed until May 17 at the latest, the government has said, but before that, on April 12, Britain will announce how and when non-essential travel can be resumed inside and outside the country. .
Sean Doyle, who was appointed CEO of BA last October, called on Britain to work with other governments to allow vaccines and health applications to open trips, after a year in which the minimum flight has left many airlines in life support.
“I think vaccinated people should be able to travel without restrictions. Those who have not been vaccinated should be able to travel with a negative test result, ”he said.
Doyle said the vaccine launch made him optimistic BA would fly again this summer, but added that the recovery depends on what is said on April 12th.
He wants the government to support health applications that can be used to verify the negative results of COVID-19 testing and a person’s vaccination status.
Applications will be key to facilitating large-scale travel, depending on the industry. The airline staff that checks the paperwork takes 20 minutes per passenger and is not practical if a large number of passengers return.
Britain has rapidly deployed vaccines and 44% of the adult population, mostly over 60, has received the first vaccine.
The government has said that any return to travel must be fair and must not unduly disadvantage those who have not been vaccinated.
Doyle expects Britain to include a framework for levels with risk-ranked destinations, and this will determine BA’s summer calendar.
Beyond saying there was “huge accumulated demand,” Doyle declined to predict the strength of the season.
Budget rival Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline, has said it expects to fly up to 70% of 2019 passenger numbers this summer.
BA reached an agreement with a test kit provider that gave its passengers £ 33 ($ 46) tests to do overseas.
Travel commentators expect most European airlines to focus on short-distance leisure routes this summer, and Doyle noted that France, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus and Spain had sounded positive about welcoming British holidaymakers.
But he said BA also looked further.
“We’re already looking at new destinations over the summer that we hadn’t flown so far, and that could be both long-haul and short-haul,” Doyle said.
($ 1 = £ 0.7196)
Report by Sarah Young. Edited by Mark Potter