Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they made an assessment in 2020 of whether limiting their support of UK airlines through access to furlough funding would have an impact on the airlines’ staff numbers and post-pandemic capacity.

Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)

The economic impact of the pandemic was widespread across large parts of the economy. It was right that the Government made support available for all businesses that needed it for the whole of the UK. To clarify, any entity with a UK payroll, including airlines, was able to apply for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).

When designing and implementing the scheme, the Government carefully considered its impacts on individual sectors and on the economy as a whole, and adapted its approach in response to the changing health and economic context.

In addition to CJRS, the Government provided unprecedented support to the aviation and aerospace sectors throughout Covid-19, with over £12 billion made available through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, and grants for research and development.