(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)
The boss of Heathrow today pleaded for all testing of fully vaccinated passengers to be scrapped immediately as he revealed that more than 600,000 travellers cancelled flights from the airport last month.
Chief executive John Holland-Kaye was speaking as he revealed that just 19.4 million passengers used Heathrow last year, fewer than in 2020 and less than a quarter of pre-pandemic levels.
While the overall number of passengers was down 12.3 per cent, the total on domestic flights was up 21 per cent at 1.77 million as Britons swapped foreign trips for staycations.
But Mr Holland-Kaye said Covid travel restrictions continued to pose “significant challenges” for the industry, as new rules were introduced at most destinations late last year to slow down the spread of the Omicron variant.
In a statement, Heathrow said there remained “significant doubt over the speed at which demand will recover” to pre-pandemic levels, with some estimates putting it at 2025.
It added: “We are urging the Government to remove all testing now for fully vaccinated passengers and to adopt a playbook for any future variants of concern that is more predictable, limits additional measures only to passengers from high-risk destinations and allows quarantine at home instead of in a hotel.”
Mr Holland-Kaye said: “There are currently travel restrictions, such as testing, on all Heathrow routes.
“The aviation industry will only fully recover when these are all lifted and there is no risk that they will be reimposed at short notice.”
