Aviation: Coronavirus

(asked on 1st December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage business travel (1) to help the airline industry, (2) to increase tourism, and (3) to support airport workers back into full-time employment.


Answered by
Baroness Vere of Norbiton Portrait
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 15th December 2020

The recent Global Travel Taskforce report set out a range measures to support a safe and sustainable return to international travel.

To support demand, we are implementing a ‘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. The Government is also exploring the feasibility of a short-stay business travel exemption and planning public health and communications campaigns to boost consumer confidence. Further measures from the Global Travel Taskforce report are being worked on at pace.

In addition to these measures, the travel and tourism industry has been helped by the Government’s substantial business and employment support packages including business rates relief, government backed loans and one-off grants for eligible businesses, and the reduction of VAT for tourism and hospitality to 5% until the end of March.

We are also working with industry partners to support talent and skills retention, through measures that include the Department for Work and Pensions’ Flexible Support Fund and Rapid Response Service, to support aviation workers at risk of redundancy to stay in employment or move between sectors.

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