Cross channel travel company Brittany Ferries will stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” with the 海角视频’s travel industry as it holds a day of action to put pressure on the Government to reopen the sector and provide financial support to businesses.
Industry body ABTA is estimating that 800 people – including travel agents, pilots and cabin crew – will gather outside the Palace of Westminster on Wednesday, June 23, in a bid to persuade the Government to expand the green list, and remove testing and quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers returning from green and amber locations.
It also wants a package of tailored financial support introduced, such as extending the furlough scheme until April 2022. In addition to the London protest, about 200 people will meet at an event in Holyrood, Edinburgh, 100 will assemble in Belfast, and a virtual meeting will take place for campaigners in Wales.
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And in Plymouth, where Brittany Ferries has its 海角视频 headquarters, the firm said it stands with ABTA, airlines and others in the travel sector in supporting the Day of Action, as it faces a “hammer blow” to its finances in 2021.
Brittany Ferries in the news
The maritime company, which serves holiday destinations in France and Spain from Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth, said the entire sector is under threat. Furthermore, it says Brits are being unfairly denied the summer get-away they deserve – and need.
“The peak summer holiday season is just around the corner. Yet there is still no transparency in the application of the Government’s traffic light system for international travel,” a Brittany Ferries spokesman said. “For example there is no clarity on the criteria by which a country may move from the amber list to green. This has created uncertainty among travel companies and their customers, which has hit summer bookings hard.”
The spokesman said 2021 will see “another hammer blow” to Brittany Ferries’ fortunes. In 2019 the company carried 545,000 passengers during the peak summer season. In 2020 it carried 242,000. This year, reservations stand at just 173,000 passengers, less than a third of a normal year.
“Variants of concern are cited by the Government as the reason for keeping countries like Spain on the amber list,” the spokesman said. “But this reasoning is far too vague and is unreasonably risk-averse. Effectively it could mean the indefinite application of self-isolation measures for those returning to the 海角视频.
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“At the start of 2020, the British people were told that the vaccination programme was their passport out of the Covid crisis. They have done their bit: now the Government must open the door to destinations where vaccination rates are high and Covid incidence is low. France and Spain must be moved immediately to the green list.
“At the very least, the Government should clarify its position on double-vaccinations. The requirement for self-isolation must be discontinued for any fully-jabbed passenger returning to the 海角视频 from an amber list country.”
ABTA estimates 195,000 travel jobs have been lost during the coronavirus pandemic or are at risk. It accused ministers of failing to deliver a restart to travel, by “undermining” the traffic light system.
It said there are no viable major tourist destinations on the quarantine-free green list, and the Government has urged people to avoid holidays to locations on the amber list.
Derek Jones, boss of luxury travel firm Kuoni, said: “The outbound travel sector has been decimated by this pandemic and by the Government’s haphazard response to it.
“Today, we have joined together to call upon ministers to acknowledge that the restrictions they have placed on international travel are having a deep and devastating impact on travel businesses.
“We are united in one message today: we want to see the safe reopening of international travel alongside targeted financial support for businesses which have not been able to trade for well over a year.”
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Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines 海角视频 – a trade body representing 海角视频 carriers, said: “It is now or never for the Government to reopen travel and save what is remaining of the summer season, not just for families desperate to get away but the tens of thousands of jobs which rely upon this once thriving sector.
“Airlines are at the absolute limit of what they can borrow and without a genuine reopening this summer they will require Government support to survive.”
Clive Wratten, chief executive of the Business Travel Association, said: “Today’s day of action highlights the dire straits of our industry. The travel sector remains in lockdown as the rest of the country opens up.
“Business travel is essential for the 海角视频 economy and our ability to trade on the international stage. The Government must provide targeted support and extend the green list at its next review.”
The Government is scheduled to update its travel lists on Thursday, June 24, before a “checkpoint” review of the rules for each tier takes place on Monday, June 28.