British Airways Parent Firm Calls For Digital Health Passes

BRITISH AIRWAYS parent form calls for a global approach and digital health passes to re-establish world tourism

International Airlines Group (IAG) who is the parent company of airline giants such as British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia, has called for a global approach to international travel in order to resuscitate the struggling tourism trade. After a year that has seen much of the firm’s fleets grounded for extended periods of time, flight schedules reduced and thousands of jobs lost, IAG this week reported a staggering €7.4bn (£6.5bn) annual loss since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

Luis Gallego, IAG’s chief executive told investors: “The aviation industry stands with governments in putting public health at the top of the agenda.

“Getting people travelling again will require a clear roadmap for unwinding current restrictions when the time is right.

“We know there is pent-up demand for travel and people want to fly.

“Vaccinations are progressing well and global infections are going in the right direction.

“We’re calling for international common testing standards and the introduction of digital health passes to reopen our skies safely.”

EU bosses are currently thrashing out the idea of issuing vaccination passports to allow greater freedom of movement, but the initiative has been met with a worldwide mixed response. In the UK, more than 200,000 people signed an online petition against the travel passes, claiming they could be “used to restrict the rights of people who have refused a Covid-19 vaccine.”

Meanwhile, Ryanair CEO Michael O’ Leary made a promising prediction when speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme at the beginning of the month, when he said that at the rate the vaccination rollout is going, it is very likely that foreign holidays could be back on the cards for summer 2021. Not only this, but he actually predicts a surge in bookings to Spain and other European countries once the most vulnerable of the population is vaccinated against Covid and travel restrictions are eased.

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