Friday 10 July 2020
Dear AOA Member,
In light of the Chancellor’s summer economic statement on Wednesday, the lack of recognition for the struggles of the aviation industry in his statement, and the discussions at the Expert Steering Group on Thursday, the AOA will carry out a campaign over the coming days to highlight our key concerns and issues, particularly on Business Rates, job losses and the financial impact of COVID-19. The AOA has, throughout this pandemic, worked with Government to ensure our voice is heard but we must now use all avenues available, including through the media and Parliament, to make sure aviation is not forgotten and does not become a sector left behind as other sectors benefit from clear financial support from Government. The team here will be working hard over the next week to (hopefully) push the needle in the right direction and raise aviation’s current predicament up the political agenda.
Of course this plan comes on a day when travellers arriving in from dozens of countries will no longer have to self-isolate for two weeks, providing a much needed boost to the industry. However, to demonstrate the fluid nature of who is in or out of the Travel Corridors list, in response to recent advice from the Joint Biosecurity Centre, DfT has removed Serbia from the current list as of this morning. As a result, from today, visitors from Serbia will be required to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival and passengers in the UK will be advised against any travel to the country. We have been in touch with DfT to seek clarification about how any further changes will be notified to airports and airlines in future. When we have further information on this we shall let you know.
Finally, I just wanted to bring member’s attention once again to our Products & Services page, where our non-airport members have added a whole host of innovative solutions for the new challenges which have arisen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other items of note:
- The AOA’s Airspace & ATS working group met today to discuss how COVID-19 has affected operations at our airports. Members discussed restarting operations, staff wellbeing, and ATCO currency and competence requirements. The group also received updates from the Industry Resilience Group, ACOG and FASI-South and North.
- AOA met with the Department of Health along with airlines, ground handlers and the DfT, to discuss the viability of testing passengers on arrival or departure at UK airports. AOA will be continuing conversations with Government and other stakeholders on testing in the coming weeks.
I hope you all have a relaxing weekend.
Best wishes,
Karen Dee
Chief Executive
