Operation of Air Services (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Lord Bowness Excerpts

Tuesday 26th January 2021 Grand Committee

[Lord Bowness (Non-Afl) [V]]

I thank the Minister for her introduction of the instrument, and I hope she will forgive me if I look a little wider than provisions for financial difficulties—of which I fear there are many and will be many more if we are not careful—and for changes to ground staff handling.

If you take airline travel as the beginning of a chain which links airlines, airports, their employees and suppliers, the aerospace industry and its suppliers, and the communities dependent upon them, there is a long chain of jobs dependent upon the functioning of the air travel industry. For this reason, I urge the Government and the Prime Minister to note and act upon the open letter sent by ABTA to the Prime Minister asking for an aviation, travel and tourism recovery package. We know it cannot take place now, but we need to plan for when it is possible and not wait until it is possible. We will need plans for inward travel, made in conjunction with not only the European Union but other jurisdictions. We will need to know what testing is to be available, where and when and at what cost. What role will vaccination certificates play? A few countries have already indicated unrestricted access for those who have been vaccinated, but how is that going to be proved by individuals?

Lastly—and I hope the Minister will forgive me—I raise yet again, after many questions, European Union regulation 261 on passenger compensation in the event of cancellation or delay. The Minister previously helped me on this point, and I am grateful for her assurance that it remained in force after 31 December. But, while in no way doubting her integrity on the matter, is it in a suitable form post our exit from the European Union on 31 December? Did it not need amendment to reflect this? If so, has it been done, and where?

Covid-19: Aviation Sector

Lord Bowness Excerpts

Monday 5th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

My Lords, the construction of a third runway at Heathrow Airport is a private enterprise and all the current planning restrictions would continue to apply.

[Lord Bowness (Con)]

My Lords, in a reply to me on 2 July at col. 1283, my noble friend told me that the Government were working very closely with UK-based aviation providers and others to establish international standards for getting our planes back into the air. Precisely what discussions have taken place and what has been achieved in practical terms on the ground and in the air in the past three months? Secondly, have the Government made any estimate of the number of jobs at risk in aviation itself, airports, aerospace, their suppliers and the communities around them if flights are not enabled to return to some sort of normality very soon?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

Turning to my noble friend’s second point first, there will inevitably be redundancies within the aviation sector. That is of course hugely regrettable and, while public health remains our top priority, we are committed to enabling a sustainable and responsible return to international travel as soon as we possibly can. In terms of our work with other countries and the international aviation community, our conversations with others have fed into the guidance that we have issued for aviation for journey planning, social distancing, cleaning, face coverings, PPE—all those sorts of requirements. The UK is also playing a leading role at ICAO in the ICAO Aviation Recovery Taskforce.

Covid-19: Public Transport

Lord Bowness Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

I would like to put the concern of the noble Lord to rest in that air-conditioning systems exist in all sorts of circumstances; the Government are indeed looking to ensure that viruses are not significantly recirculated throughout any particular environment.

[Lord Bowness (Con)]

Will my noble friend acknowledge that passenger scheduled and charter flights are as much a form of public transport as anything else, and that thousands of jobs in the airlines, airports, aerospace industries and their suppliers, and the communities around them, depend on those flights resuming to a reasonable level? Can the Minister indicate what steps the Government are taking, and what conversations they are having, to co-operate with other Governments and co-ordinate with other countries, particularly in Europe, to ensure that airports and airlines operate to a common standard, allowing flights to resume to as near normal as possible, as quickly as possible?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

My noble friend will probably agree with me that aviation is a core part of our transport system and a great provider of jobs in this country. It is going through an unprecedented time at the moment in that, of course, most flights are not currently taking place. We are working very closely with the aviation industry—the UK-based aviation providers, the regulators in the EU and beyond—to establish international standards for getting our planes back into the sky while making sure that, when passengers can fly, they are safe.