“Thirty other countries have introduced airport testing to unlock the problem, so my question to Government is, why can’t we?
“Ministers must work with international partners to agree on a universal arrivals and departures testing process. Just as safety agreements are mutually recognised internationally, so should health standards.”
Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, has signalled his support for a two-test approach, where passengers are swabbed on arrival, then five or eight days later and those with negative results released from quarantine. However, no date has been set on when it might go ahead.
“Safeguarding people’s health must always be the top priority, but as we wrote to the Prime Minister this week, the Government needs to take action now, before even more jobs are lost,” said Mr Cruz.
More than 40 Tory MPs, including former prime minister Theresa May, have urged Boris Johnson to introduce testing, while the bosses the UK’s biggest airports and airlines have written to the Prime Minister warning up to 110,000 aviation and allied industry jobs are at risk unless action is taken.
Back in April, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, several large aviation players called for government help, as seen below: