Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has undertaken an assessment of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the aviation (a) sector and (b) supply chain.

Before the impact of COVID-19, the UK aviation sector, including air transport and aerospace, directly employed around 230,000 people and supported around 500,000 jobs in total, including the jobs supported through its purchase of goods and services along its supply chain.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a sharp contraction in aviation demand, which has created large revenue losses for airlines, airports and companies along the aviation supply chain. The sector has responded to falling revenues by taking action to cut costs.

The Department keeps impacts of Covid-19 on the transport sector under regular review and recognises the importance of the aviation sector to the UK economy. As a result, a series of measures have already been introduced.

The aviation sector can draw upon the unprecedented package of measures announced by the Chancellor, including a Bank of England scheme for firms to raise capital, Time to Pay flexibilities with tax bills, financial support for employees and VAT deferrals.

The Department also influenced the airport flight slot usage rules at the start of the pandemic, enabling airlines to cut their services without penalty and protect the environment from unnecessary flying.

The Government has also commenced a policy of ‘travel corridors’, a risk-based alternative to blanket self-isolation requirements with lower risk countries.

We are working with the sector to enable its restart.