British aviation companies calling for further government support

The UK's airports and airlines are in desperate need of support to survive the "very bleak future" looming through a new lockdown in England, warned the head of one of the country's largest airport groups. The very low volume of travel in recent months has put airlines and airports under further financial strain after they were effectively closed during the UK's first lockdown, and they now face another month of no income during the second lockdown. "A support package urgently needs to be put together," said Charlie Cornish, head of the Manchester Airport Group (MAG), in a statement on Monday.

He said the new lockdown on England, slated to begin Thursday and banning international leisure travel, will render parts of the aviation sector unsustainable. Before the pandemic, the UK had a thriving aviation sector. Aviation and related supply chain activities, as well as the arrival of tourists, supported 1.6 million jobs and accounted for 4.5% of UK GDP, according to an IATA study. However, more than 20,000 jobs have now been lost with British airlines such as British Airways (L: ICAG) and easyJet (L: EZJ), and Heathrow, once Europe's busiest airport, has lost its crown to Paris. Industry executives blame the UK government's 14-day quarantine and comparatively slow roll-out of tests to replace the need for isolation for the worsening pain.

The industry associations Airlines UK and the Airport Operators Association called on the government to introduce reduced company tariffs for airports, waive the airline passenger tax and quickly introduce a test regime to save jobs. In addition to job support programs, the UK provided extra aid to rail, bus and hospitality companies during the crisis, but aviation has been ignored despite the Treasury Secretary's promises in March, bosses say.

"The government has neglected UK aviation and the role it plays in our economy from day one of this pandemic," said Cornish, whose MAG owns Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports. France and Germany have both provided government-backed rescue packages to help Air France-KLM (PA: AIRF) and Lufthansa (DE: LHAG) survive the crisis.