Airlines and holiday firms have demanded blanket Covid testing at airports in Scotland to save their industry.
Plans to reduce the 14-day quarantine by testing incoming travellers have so far failed to deliver.
Travel agents and aviation businesses say that unless people can confidently book holidays, more jobs will go.
Jonathan Hinkles, boss of Glasgow-based Loganair, urged the UK Government to introduce quick tests at exit and entry points.
He said: “We can put this in place quickly and start to get this industry working again because without that, people need to have the confidence to book.
“Airlines then cut their schedules back, inconveniencing the few people who have booked and it causes a vicious cycle and we’ll be whirling around like a leaf in an autumn storm.
“We need to have some certainty in this and then address the economic issues to start getting the industry back on its feet again.”
Anyone arriving in the UK from abroad must self-isolate for two weeks, unless they have come from an exempt location, which includes Cyprus, Italy and Germany.
Under new proposals to be considered by the UK’s Global Travel Taskforce, travellers would be given the option of paying for a test a few days after they arrive.
A negative result would allow people to end their quarantine early.
The task force will also consider whether people could self-isolate before travelling abroad, instead of upon arrival.
Some countries, including Iceland, already give travellers a choice on arrival if they have come from areas with high virus levels.
Anyone entering must either self-quarantine for 14 days or be tested for Covid-19.
In Germany, compulsory tests are carried out at airports for anyone arriving from a high-risk country. From yesterday, people arriving in Italy from the UK must take a test.
Jacqueline Dobson, president of Barrhead Travel, said: “We know public health has to come first and we’re asking the UK Government to progress with airport testing urgently to allow the travel industry to get moving again this side of Christmas.
“Testing is the only practical way to boost confidence among travellers and restart key routes in and out the country.
“There is a clear demand for travel amongst holidaymakers across the country but they need the peace of mind that they will not be subject to a 14-day quarantine on return.
“It has been frustrating for customers, some of whom have been faced with changing holidays three, four or five times.”
