LONDON (Reuters) – British Airways’ new boss has said vaccinated people should be allowed to travel without restriction and non-vaccinated people with a negative COVID-19 test as he sets out his ideas for a resume journey a month before the British government announced its plans.
Holidays will only be allowed on May 17, the government said, but before that, Britain will announce on April 12 how and when non-essential travel to and from the country can resume.
Sean Doyle, who was appointed CEO of BA in October, called on Britain to work with other governments to enable vaccinations and health programs to travel, after a year of minimal flight many airlines left on life support.
‘I think vaccinated people should be able to travel without restriction. “Those who have not been vaccinated should be able to travel with a negative test result,” he said.
Doyle said the introduction of vaccines had made him optimistic that BA would fly back this summer, but added that the recovery depended on what was said on April 12.
He wants the government to support health programs that can be used to verify a person’s negative COVID-19 test results and vaccination status.
Applications will be key to facilitating scale travel, the industry said. Airline staff checking paperwork takes 20 minutes per passenger and is not practical if large numbers of passengers return.
Britain quickly introduced vaccinations and 44% of the adult population, mostly people over 60, now had it for the first time.
The government has said that every return to travel should be fair and adversely affect those who have not yet been vaccinated.
Doyle expects Britain to add a differentiated framework with destinations depending on the risks in categories, and this will determine BA’s summer schedule.
Aside from the fact that there was a “big pent-up demand”, Doyle did not want to predict how strong the season could be.
Budget competitor Ryanair, the largest airline in Europe, said it hopes to fly up to 70% of its 2019 passenger numbers this summer.
BA has entered into an agreement with a test equipment supplier that will give its passengers £ 33 ($ 46) tests to take abroad.
Travel commentators expect most European airlines to focus on short-haul routes this summer, and Doyle noted that France, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus and Spain have all sounded positive about welcoming British holidaymakers.
But he said BA is also looking further.
“We are already looking at new destinations in the summer that we have not flown to yet, and that could be over long-distance as well as short-distance levels,” Doyle said.
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Reporting by Sarah Young. Edited by Mark Potter