The particular problem facing a company such as Ryanair is that a significant proportion of their customers are in the short breaks market. Whilst the hassle and expense of unnecessary covid testing may be just about worth it to save a two week holiday, it probably isn't for a discretionary long weekend away. And certainly it isn't viable for those who would generally take several short breaks per year. It isn't just the money. If your full days in destination are (for example) Saturday and Sunday, imagine having to spend the Sunday searching for a covid testing clinic in a foreign city where you don't speak the language (if they actually open on a Sunday, that is). Do you go on holiday for that? Meanwhile, the threat of quarantine lingers too.
And whilst my cited example refers to leisure travel, short business trips are rendered equally impractical by these restrictions as well.
The government know what they're doing here: they're able to pretend that they have opened up overseas travel to the masses whilst in reality setting the bar so high that few can make use of the 'opportunity'. And I strongly suspect that alot of this is driven by anti-carbon climate zealots (pre COP-26) rather than those genuinely concerned about covid spread. They'll keep this going for as long as they can get away with it. Citizens of Continental European countries aren't being forced to endure this nonsense ... and the UK had a two month start on them in meaningfully vaccinating the populace.
We need to get together at an industry level and demand a complete end to unnecessary PCR testing for travel. We were told they were required to detect new variants sneaking into the country. Well, to achieve that, those returning positive results need to be sequenced. And we know that this is happening in only 5% of cases. Quite useless. So the lies of the politicians behind this are clearly exposed. The ONLY purpose of all those PCR tests is to put air travel well beyond the reach of most ordinary people. And the politicians seem quietly content for this situation to drag on indefinitely, with contemporary debate focusing on the cost of tests rather than the justification for requiring them at all.
I'm aware that MO'L has called out this hypocrisy in media interviews. I've noted similar representations from MAG and Jet2. We need more to join in now. A concerted industry-wide campaign. The time has come to agitate for these testing requirements to be scrapped, not marginally reduced in price. The airline industry owes UK politicians no loyalty or thanks. We owe them no courtesy. Remember Rishi's promised "tailor-made package of help for the airline industry" ... whatever did happen to that? And Labour are even worse than the Tories. Their kneejerk refrain at every opportunity has been to call for harsher restrictions and longer lockdowns. Libs and SNP likewise. I despair. Only a hardcore of backbench Conservatives have spoken with any sense on these matters. How have we let it come to this?