Heathrow CEO: quarantine measures “strangling UK economy”

Thousands of jobs are being lost due to the United Kingdom’s quarantine measures, said Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye as he presented the airport’s July transport figures.

The U.K.’s quarantine policy “continues to strangle the U.K. economy. Tens of thousands of jobs are being lost because Britain remains cut off from critical markets such as the US, Canada and Singapore. The government can save jobs by introducing testing to cut quarantine from higher risk countries, while keeping the public safe from a second wave of Covid,” said Holland-Kaye.

Heathrow passenger numbers plunged by almost 89 percent compared to July 2019. Over half of its 860,000 July passengers travelled to quarantine-free European destinations. A few weeks ago, the United Kingdom scaled down quarantine measures, which now merely apply to travellers from some countries, including Spain, Belgium, the Bahamas and Andorra. However, the government stated that it would not hesitate to add more countries to this quarantine list if there is any reason to. In any case, travellers must provide details and travel plans in advance via a form.