New Testing Regulations at Heathrow Airport To Be Applied

The airport’s representatives issued a warning on the possible reinstatement of Covid testing.

 

When Chinese people were allowed to fly again after almost three years, the UK's main airport expressed "concern" over the reintroduction of testing procedures by the United Kingdom and other nations. The EU's advice that Chinese travellers provide a negative Covid test has been met with criticism from aviation groups, as have similar measures taken by several European countries.

In addition, China has threatened "retaliation" against nations that demand Covid testing of Chinese tourists. After Japan and South Korea mandated that Chinese travellers show negative test results, the Chinese authorities banned the issuance of short-term visas in both countries earlier this week.

A return of Covid-19 testing regulations for travellers from China has now been suggested by London Heathrow Airport, despite it having the potential to "set back" the aviation industry's recovery from the coronavirus outbreak.

The hub representatives expressed concern that the reintroduction of testing for travellers in the UK and other countries in response to rising Covid rates in China could slow down the recovery of the air transport industry, which is essential to the economy. However, Heathrow issued the warning as it estimated that 61.6 million people went through the airport in 2022, an increase of 42.2 million from 2021 but still 24% behind 2019's high of 80.9 million passengers.

The airport in London was unable to recover as soon as it would have liked since it limited the amount of passengers who may leave during the summer of 2022. The airport's performance is comparable to that of Amsterdam Schiphol, another important European hub, whose traffic dropped by 27% from 2019 to 2022, to a total of 52.5 million passengers.

Despite a strike by Border Force employees during the Christmas holiday season, the UK airport boasted of the "smooth and efficient service" it provided travellers in December. Heathrow's busiest route at the end of last year was to New York's JFK, and the airport attributed this to the increased number of transatlantic flights. The number of passengers heading to North America increased 82.1 percent versus December 2021.

As the industry continues to expand capacity in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, Heathrow emphasised that offering outstanding service continues to be a major focus also for this year.

 

Source: businesstravelnewseurope.com