Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what engagement his Department of Transport has had with the aerospace industry to identify measures that could (a) safely open up aviation and (b) increase consumer confidence in the context of the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government is working closely with the UK’s aerospace and aviation industries, including at sector level through the Aerospace Growth Partnership.

In addition, the Global Travel Taskforce has undertaken extensive engagement with the transport industry, including aviation and aerospace, and are putting in place a range of measures to support a safe and sustainable return to air travel and encourage consumer confidence.

On 15 December we introduced the ‘Test to Release for International Travel’ scheme in England, allowing arrivals from countries not on the travel corridors list to pay for a privately provided Covid-19 test and reduce their period of self-isolation if the test is negative.