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<\/p>\nThe government\u2019s travel restrictions have effectively shut down UK aviation and \u201cpermanently damaged\u201d the careers and livelihoods of thousands of travel industry employees: that is the claim from the leading pilots\u2019 union in a letter to the prime minister.<\/p>\n
The British Airline Pilots\u2019 Association (Balpa) has written to Boris Johnson saying that coronavirus lockdown decisions \u201chave huge knock-on effects, and in the case of the air transport industry, extremely serious ones\u201d.<\/p>\n
Brian Strutton, the general secretary of Balpa, wrote: \u201cGovernment policy has effectively shut down UK aviation. We understand the reasoning behind those decisions, but the effects have already been disastrous.<\/p>\n
\u201cCovid has seen permanent closure of Flybe and Norwegian Air UK. Thousands of pilots in airlines across the country have lost their careers or are furloughed, along with tens of thousands of other front-line staff members<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the same people who, in the face of this terrible virus, repatriated British citizens and ensured important cargo made it to the UK to protect the NHS and save lives. Now their careers and livelihoods have been permanently damaged.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Mr Strutton described calls by ministers not to book summer holidays as \u201cdamaging\u201d.<\/p>\n
On 10 February, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, told the BBC\u2019sToday<\/em>\u00a0programme: \u201cPlease don\u2019t go ahead and book holidays for something which at this stage it is illegal to actually go and do \u2013 whether it\u2019s here or abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n Read our full mailing list consent terms here<\/p>\n Read our full mailing list consent terms here<\/p>\n There has also been dismay in the aviation industry about the hotel quarantine scheme that took effect on 15 February, requiring arrivals from 33 \u201cred list\u201d countries to stay in \u201cmanaged isolation\u201d for 11 nights.<\/p>\n But speaking in the Commons about hotel quarantine plans, the health minister Jo Churchill said: \u201cAs we take the necessary steps at the border, we recognise the challenges they present to industry.<\/p>\n \u201cWe continue to support our air transport sector, including airlines, airports and related services, and by the end of April the sector will have received some \u00a33 billion of support through the Covid corporate finance scheme and the job retention scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile the Kremlin has announced that the ban on flights from the UK to Russia will continue to mid-March at the earliest.<\/p>\n In a tweet, the government in Moscow said: \u201cRussia has extended suspension of air traffic with the UK until 16 March.\u201d<\/p>\n Normally Aeroflot and British Airways operate daily services between London Heathrow and airports in Moscow.<\/p>\nINDY\/GO Weekly Newsletter<\/span><\/h4>\n
TIME TO TRAVEL!<\/h4>\n
INDY\/GO Weekly Newsletter<\/span><\/h4>\n
TIME TO TRAVEL!<\/h4>\n