UK pandemic government aviation policy
 

Are the U.K. government trying to wipe out the U.K’s airlines? This airbridge policy could hardly be implemented in a more damaging way.

The way changes are being implemented at short notice will undermine people’s confidence in booking anything.

The way they lump geographically (and epidemiologically) distant places in together is illogical. Even a week of “x country is now under increased monitoring due to infection rates” would give people more confidence.

I think this government are lacking in ability and their behaviour is bordering on reckless when it comes to the aviation sector.

Another random COVID thread, when there's plenty already. Anyway, could just as easily argue that the aviation industry's approach to the pandemic has been reckless.

Boris has totally lost the plot on Quarantine
The cases in the U.K. are verging on the same level as the resent entries eg France.
We are now restricting entry to all from Holland France Spain Portugal.
Most of our food is imported by sea from these countries.
If these countries retaliate and require our lorry drivers to take a test or Q for 14 days a crisis could develop.
In Nelsons time the Royal Navy blockaded Europe might the reverse happen to the U.K?

You're wasting your time as the majority on here are covid sympathisers. Whether it be the European posters or the Aussie posters, they all seem to be in fear of it. To think this is an aviation forum too, then there are those that point you towards all the science in order to beat you down.

We in the industry will have to live with this decimation because there's not going to be much left when this all blows over.

If you think their approach to Covid and the aviation sector is reckless you’ll be livid when you find out what they’ve got planned for January 1st....

Such policies actually do a wonderful job on discouraging travel to the extent when most people will no longer need any blanket ban to stay put. The sole thought that your destination might get onto the wrong list while you are there, sending you into the Mickey Mouse uncontrolled "self-isolation with exceptions" upon arrival, will make you think more than twice before booking. Whether the potential public health benefits of that outweigh the tremendous economic damage is quite arguable. I would instead be looking into something similar to the German setup - large-scale testing of those returning from high-risk REGIONS (not countries - regions!) instead of blanket restrictions on whole big chunks of the world, a huge part of which isn't any more dangerous than the UK in terms of contagion risk. But probably in a year or two we'll know more about who was right and who was wrong.

My belief - and I don’t care if anyone agrees or not - is that Boris wants everyone to holiday in the U.K. so that we are not dependant on any other country for tourism. This is part of his Brexit strategy and he has already openly said there will be no summer holidays abroad this year pre airbridge so the latter was just a half hearted approach at pacifying those that questioned why it wasn’t doing anything to support the travel industry. Boris is deluded and wants to make “Britain great again” but fails to recognise the importance of inbound tourism and economic benefit.

This winter will see casualties - they are already hard
months and with very little summer funding to help airlines through, plus the lack of confidence others have alluded to, we are in very dangerous waters.

The virus isn’t going away. However we as a country are failing to adjust our ways of living to accommodate the virus and instead we are trying to fight it. Labour were spot on in that the government need to up their game on the track and trace system and adequate testing measures rather than blanket quarantines.

Cloud 1
Tend to agree with you re BJ and unspoken policy. I think he would like it if all holiday money was spent by the UK population in the UK, and if not on holidays on doing up houses replacing cars etc , preferably UK manufactured if at all possible. I am not sure its a plan, as BJ does not do that ,more of a gut feeling of his, which he acts on all too frequently, for those surrounding him and the recipients of his "gut" effect. I do not see any light yet at the end of the tunnel in this, so I think it will be tough winter for this sector.
Kind regards
Mr Mac

Autarchy in UK...great plan

It is impossible to run any business on the basis the government will allow you to operate this week but might ban you next week and penalise your customers for doing business with you. Then, to rub salt into the wound, they say the consequences of their decisions are your problem.

Does the UK have an aviation policy; let lone one to get through the pandemic?

At a stroke the decimation of airlines & with it the airports removes too any personal confliction for the Prime Minister in regard to RW3 at LHR.No more waiting around in wellies & the show boating hard hat photo op waiting for those `dozers anymore.So conflicted was he... did he not "disappear" to Europe on an "urgent" or "prearranged" visit when in charge at the F/O so not to be present at a pertinent vote in the Commons back in the day....
C19 handling ineptitude helps to remove what were the many looming expansion projects from virtually every UK airport & therefore relief from decision making resulting in avoidance of any Minister/Government confrontation with what though before C19 was clearly fast becoming deference to the Green lobby juggernaut.
Very harshly for the industry but for politicos only concerned with their own personal short-termism doing nothing strategically now only meddling & muddling produces clearly a win for themselves unfortunately...
Aviation decisions & strategy not just kicked into the long grass but into the long grass many meadows away appears the scenario with these opportunistic muddle heads...
The only hope could be in the Autumn with a Chancellor with clear sights on the top job setting out strategic No 11 policy inc reducing or abolishing say APD to start...or specific & targeted support for industry sectors...

Either way we cant carry on like this, there is literally going to be nothing left of the Aviation industry and a lot of others come to mention it!

I don't see the point in a Lockdown (let alone another) unless you lock everyone down until there is no trace of the virus left. What's the point in having a lockdown and then ending in at the start of the summer as humans will just be humans therefore, infection rates are bound to creep up again. Its almost like part of the plan was to have a 'second waive!'

The only alternative I can see is just to carry on as old normal (i.e as if it was 2019) and just learn to live with the thing as we do other viruses. Sorry if that may sound selfish but I'm afraid the path we are on at the moment is leading to nothing short of disaster.

N79

Well that's a new one on me.

Isn't sympathy a bit wasted on a virus ?

For what it's worth, with the country in such a mess (whose fault? - discuss) how is flying on an Irish Airline, using Arab fuel to a Spanish resort and spending British currency in a Costa Brava bar going to help? Sorry but Boris hasn't got much right but he is OK on this one.

Because ciderman we need airlines and an aviation industry along with the multiple thousands of jobs it secures. Please wake up and realise the bigger impact here. Boris most certainly has not got it right at all. The U.K. are behind many other countries and it’s all well and good saying their cases are rising but that’s the case everywhere and will be the case here in the U.K. regardless. Feel free to sit in isolation if you wish but we need to keep planes flying.

Spending holiday money in the UK wouldn't necessarily reduce casualties across the board. While it's true that a part of your money will thus go to a hotel/restaurant owner in Penzance instead of a hotel/restaurant owner in Costa Adeje, the failure of airlines, travel agencies and all other British businesses relying on international travel is likely to far outweigh this in terms of overall impact.

This is a crisis. We face a pressing need for a testing kit to check for the presence of a brain within the human body.

650 kits required at Westminster with utmost urgency. Please advise immediately if any sign of a brain is found.

Boris isnt bothered about the UK population just his scumbag crooked friends who will still holiday abroad and dodge isolation by private jets and citizenship in tax havens.

Lets face it he and his friends , Gove and Cummins and Hancock have had their hands in the till over PPE kits and testing aps allegedly giving contracts to companies owned by friends and family.

An awful state of affairs exemplified by having aircraft carriers when e need patrol boats and using A400s where a Cessna 150 would do the job.
The Ameircan's have a word for what they are doing to us-Gaslighting and we are just watching it happen

This is now the third Covid 19 thread or should I call it a government bashing thread. It doesn’t matter what the government does the usual suspects will see it as an opportunity for political points scoring.

Travelling abroad for a jolly during a pandemic has never struck me as being bright particularly when the virus has propagated through mass travel. The virus can quickly get out of control so the government reacts to countries with problems and people here don’t like it.

Coronavirus in Europe: Infections surge in France, Germany and Spain. Germany blames returning holidaymakers https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-53747852