UK: Heathrow airport calls for airport testing after number of passengers plunge

UK’s Heathrow airport has renewed its call for COVID-19 testing at the airport after it reported a drastic plunge in passenger numbers amid the ongoing pandemic. According to reports, 8,60,000 passengers travelled through Heathrow in July, 88 per cent down as compared to the previous year.

The UK government, which is mulling a full revival of businesses, has mandated quarantine on arrivals from Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Bahamas and Andorra. Last week, country’s finance minister Rishi Sunak reportedly said that the government would not hesitate to add more countries to its quarantine list including ally France.

60% route remained unoperated 

The travel restrictions have affected the London airport majorly. As per the airport’s management, 60 per cent of its route network remained grounded requiring the passenger to quarantine for 14 days. Recently, it saw a slight uplift after the government introduced travel corridors on July 4.

However, Heathrow’s management is of the opinion that airport testing of passengers could safely keep the routes open. In addition, it could restart other long-closed routes which could help the country's economy, which is fast slipping into recession, to recover.

Speaking to international media reporters. CEO John Holland Kaye said that tens of thousands of jobs have been lost because Britain remains cut off from critical markets such as the US, Canada and Singapore.Elaborating further, he said that the government could save jobs, by introducing testing to cut quarantine from higher-risk countries, while keeping public safe form COVID-19.

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This comes as experts have predicted a GDP drop of seven per cent in the second quarter of the pandemic hit year. The figures, which would be released mid-week, will put the country’s economy in recession for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis. As per the economists, two consecutive quarters of economic plunge are required for any country to be called under recession.

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Read: UK Employment Falls By Biggest Quarterly Amount Since 2009

Image credits: AP