GM Mayor criticises government air travel strategy

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has criticised the governments coronavirus response in regards to the air travel sector, as he warns in a Sunday Telegraph article of 70,000 jobs at risk in and around Manchester Airport.

The city-region mayor called for urgent support for the aviation sector; he cited the potential impact on communities around Manchester Airport in South Manchester and Stockport, for which the Northern hub is a key centre of employment. Mr Burnham warned that 25,000 jobs on the site were at risk, along with a further 45,000 in associated industries, with the coronavirus pandemic’s impact likely to be felt disproportionately by regional airports.

Manchester Airports Group has already warned of around 450 job losses in the North, and a further 450 at its other UK airports, due to the collapse in passenger numbers brought about by the pandemic.

Andy Burnham has criticised the failure to provide additional tailored support for air travel, describing the pandemic as the “biggest financial crisis” for the UK aviation industry. Changing rules over travel corridors during the summer months, coupled with many destinations such as Thailand, Australia and New Zealand being closed completely to tourism, and the hit of a second lockdown in England banning non-essential foreign travel for UK residents, have left airports struggling to continue running major infrastructure without their main revenue stream.

The Greater Manchester Mayor also suggested that an improved coronavirus testing regime for air travellers could reduce self-isolation periods for arrivals and help to reopen air travel. He cited schemes in many countries worldwide, including Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore and the UAE, where in Dubai arrivals can be tested and receive a result in 15 minutes.

Andy Burnham concluded his comments with reference to Boris Johnson’s last visit to Manchester Airport, where its new £1 billion terminal was the backdrop for his ambitions to ‘level-up’ regional economies. Mr Burnham wrote:

The Prime Minister needs to be reminded of his trip North in July 2019 and of how critical our airports were to his vision of a rebalanced, post-Brexit UK. He needs to know that continued inaction on this crucial issue risks leaving Britain stranded on the periphery of international travel and trade just as we enter the brave, new world.

“I have had my disagreements with the Government recently on their treatment of the North and could easily add the neglect of Manchester Airport to my charge sheet. But I don’t want to be at constant loggerheads with them. I remain ready to work with the Government to deliver on their ambitions for the North of England and nobody would be more pleased than me if their “levelling-up” agenda really began to take off. But, if things carry on like this, it will be as grounded as all of those planes sitting on the Manchester Airport tarmac.”

Andy Burnham’s comments in full have been published in the Sunday Telegraph and on the GMCA website.