Business leaders warn PM economy will nosedive until coronavirus testing is brought in at borders

The economy will nosedive until Covid testing is brought in at borders, furious business chiefs said last night.

Demanding urgent action from Boris Johnson, they warned 14-day quarantine was crippling travel, wrecking trade prospects and jeopardising the recovery. The chief executive of Heathrow accused the Government of ‘doing nothing to protect jobs’.

‘What makes me more angry is that we are putting this country’s future at risk,’ said John Holland-Kaye.

‘We weren’t born as one of the world’s great trading nations. We got there through hard work and ingenuity over decades. And all that work will be lost if we stand by and do nothing to safely open up our borders.’

British Airways boss Willie Walsh said quarantine was ‘throttling business and holiday plans and handcuffing our economic recovery’. The Daily Mail is leading calls for testing at airports and ports to get the country and economy moving again.

Airlines UK, the Airport Operators Association, Virgin Atlantic, EasyJet, Airbus and Rolls-Royce are all backing the campaign. Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, Southend, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton airports also pledged their support.

Tony Blair said testing at airports was essential to reopening the economy. The former prime minister added: ‘Testing after travel will reduce quarantine and eventually replace it altogether.

‘By maximising all the testing capacity at our disposal and continuing to bring online new, innovative on-the-spot tests, we can do this now. It will be essential to getting international travel back and revitalising the economy.’

Travel industry leaders are furious at the failure to bring in airport testing, with one warning ministers were ‘presiding over the demise of the aviation industry’.

The quarantine system – in which travellers have to self-isolate for 14 days if they arrive in the UK from a ‘red list’ country – has been in place since June. It has caused mayhem for British holidaymakers, tourists from abroad and business travellers.

Countries have been taken off the list – opening up travel bookings – only to be added again a few weeks later when their rate of coronavirus infections increases.

To add to the confusion, the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are able to impose their own rules. This was dramatically illustrated last night when the UK government decided not to add Portugal or Greece to its quarantine list.

Yet travellers in Wales were told they would have to self-isolate for 14 days if they returned from mainland Portugal or any of six Greek islands.

The number of foreigners coming to Britain has collapsed with devastating consequences for London and other tourist hotspots.

Travel bosses point out that countries including Germany, France, Italy and Iceland have managed to introduce a testing regime to eliminate or reduce the need for quarantine. They have spent months calling for passengers to be tested on arrival and then again a few days later. Experts on the Sage committee endorsed the idea two months ago.

Minutes from the scientific advisory group show it asked Public Health England to consider such a policy after research found tests after five days would pick up 85 per cent of coronavirus cases, and 96 per cent after eight days.

The plan would have allowed people to finish quarantine within a week. However aviation bosses say the Department for Transport has ‘stopped engaging’ on the issue.

Heathrow has even built its own testing centre ready to test thousands of arrivals – but the multi-million pound facility is gathering dust. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has not even asked to visit.

Sources have blamed the lack of action on Whitehall infighting. One senior Tory MP said that although Mr Shapps supports testing, other departments are concerned about ‘false negative’ results and other potential problems.

Jet2 last night cancelled all flights and holidays to Spain and Croatia for the rest of the summer season. The tour operator blamed the quarantine measures for ruining thousands of holidays. A spokesman said: ‘We urge the Government to continue to help holidaymakers by implementing a targeted approach to travel advice, instead of the current blanket approach.’

The quarantine rules are being opposed by more than 80 MPs, half of them Conservatives.

Steve Baker, Tory former minister and MP for High Wycombe, said: ‘If the Government can provide fast accurate lateral-flow tests at airports to enable people to avoid quarantine when they come back, then they must deploy them widely.

‘As an MP for a constituency west of Heathrow, I see through my mailbox the devastating impact of coronavirus on the ground crew, the pilots and the cabin crew.’

The first international flight in more than five months landed in China’s capital yesterday with the passengers greeted by airport staff in full hazmat suits.

Initially the Chinese are allowing flights from Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan, Greece, Denmark, Austria, Sweden and Canada – countries deemed low risk.

Eleven cases were reported yesterday in China, where the coronavirus first emerged late last year.

… and how it used to be 

Airports in early September are usually full of families flying back for the new school year – or canny holidaymakers heading out on cut-price term-time deals.

Sadly, the gates at Gatwick and Heathrow were all but empty yesterday. In fact, departures at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 was literally deserted at one point, as seen above.

The airport – Britain’s biggest and busiest – would normally handle around 1,300 flights every day in September, with 220,000 passengers coming and going. Yesterday there were just 504 flights landing and taking off, with many planes far from full.