Airline Shares Plummet Amid ‘Quarantine Hotel’ Fears

AIRLINE shares plummet amid ‘quarantine hotel’ fears as travel industry warns this could be the beginning of the end

As the country braces itself for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to formally announce his plan to force all travellers arriving in the UK to pay to quarantine for ten days in hotels, the travel agency has issued a stark warning that the British public is losing faith in the sector and is reluctant to book any holidays in 2021. The sentiments were echoed in the markets on Monday, January 25, as shares in operators such as British Airways’ parent group IAG, EasyJet and Ryanair plummeted once again.

The Covid O subcommittee are set to meet tomorrow, January 26, to discuss the possible options for future travel, with ‘quarantine hotels’, similar to those in Australia appearing to be the most attractive solution. However, travel industry experts have issued a stark warning that this additional cost and hassle to tourists could be the final nail in the aviation sector’s coffin.

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, told the DailyMail:

‘This is destroying confidence among holidaymakers. People are not booking summer holidays because they don’t believe there is an end game which will see these blanket measures removed,’ he said.

‘This is a sure-fire way of destroying Britain’s aviation and travel industries. The Government needs to signal that they will withdraw the hotel quarantine rules by the end of March and return to a system of quarantining arrivals from high-risk areas only.’

Speaking with Sky News, Environment Secretary George Eustice didn’t do much to assuage fears, as he was unable to give a clear idea about when Brits would be able to travel abroad on holiday again.

“I do realise, we absolutely realise people’s lives are on hold in some ways,’ he said.

“They’re in lockdown and nobody can quite see where we will be by the summer.

“But what they can see is the pace at which we are rolling out the vaccine. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

“Once we get all those vulnerable cohorts vaccinated and start to move down the age ranges, in late Spring, early Summer, I really think it will be possible to return to life much closer to normal.’

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