24Hr emergency line +44 (0)20 8476 4099
Join Balpa

BALPA demands only data led restrictions and support to repair shattered confidence in air travel

Responding to the latest travel changes, BALPA General Secretary Martin Chalk said:

“BALPA welcomes the Government’s promise to remove these new restrictions if this variant is no more a threat than the Delta variant. All professional pilots support the Government’s desire to protect the population, but that will need effective measures. Border restrictions have not stopped previous waves of virus, not here or elsewhere, so there is no reason to suggest they will now.

“The latest changes have shattered the fledgling confidence in air travel including for Christmas and new year bookings.

“We call again on Government to act with the data and to support a vital UK industry. This includes Government funding the expensive PCR tests and actually sequencing traveller’s tests so we can have an effective and data driven policy.

“The aviation industry now needs a winter resilience fund to support us through an even more extended period of restrictions. Vital aviation industry skills, including those of pilots, will carry the ambitions of the whole country as we recover. Government must invest in the recovery now”.

ENDS