LONDON (Reuters) – British Airways’s new boss mentioned vaccinated individuals should be allowed to travel without restriction and non-vaccinated individuals with a negative COVID-19 test, as he set out his ideas for a travel restart a month earlier than the UK government finalizes its plans.
Holidays won’t be allowed till May 17 at the earliest, the government has mentioned, but before that, on April 12, Britain will announce how and when non-essential travel into and out of the country can resume.
Sean Doyle, appointed BA’s chief executive last October, called on Britain to work with other governments to allow vaccines and health apps to open up travel, after a yr when minimal flying has left many airlines on life support.
“I think people who’ve been vaccinated should be able to journey without restriction. Those that have not been vaccinated ought to be able to travel with a negative test result,” he mentioned.
Doyle mentioned the roll-out of vaccines made him optimistic BA would be back flying this summer, but added the recovery depends on what is said on April 12.
He desires government to give its backing to health apps that can be used to verify a person’s negative COVID-19 test results and vaccination status.
Apps will be key to facilitating travel at scale, the industry has mentioned. Airline staff checking paperwork takes 20 minutes per passenger and is not practical if large numbers of passengers return.
Britain has rapidly rolled out vaccinations and 44% of the adult inhabitants, mostly individuals over 60, have now had their first shot.
The government has mentioned any return to travel should be fair and not unduly disadvantage those that have not been vaccinated.
Doyle expects Britain to bring in a tiered framework with destinations put into categories depending on risk, and that will decide BA’s summer schedule.
Beyond saying there was “huge pent up demand”, Doyle declined to forecast how strong the season could be.
Budget rival Ryanair, Europe’s biggest airline, has mentioned it hopes to fly up to 70% of 2019 passenger numbers this summer.
BA has struck a deal with a testing kit provider giving its passengers 33 pound ($46) tests to take abroad.
Travel commentators expect most European airlines to focus on short-haul leisure routes this summer, and Doyle noted France, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus and Spain had all sounded positive about welcoming British holidaymakers.
But he mentioned BA was also looking further afield.
“We’re already looking at new destinations over the summer that we haven’t flown to before, and that could be throughout each long haul and short haul,” Doyle mentioned.
