Heathrow has blamed the UK government’s quarantine as it announces redundancies in front line roles.
Heathrow says that its “employment levels are no longer sustainable” as the Government’s 14-day blanket quarantine has taken effect this week.
The airport said that passenger numbers in May continued at an all-time low (down 97 per cent compared to the same time last year) and “the grim picture is set to continue thanks to the Government’s quarantine policy which requires all arriving passengers to self-isolate for two weeks.”
The airport had already announced it had cut one third of management roles, and has now begun to “restructure its frontline roles”, though it has not released the number of redundancies it is planning.
Heathrow CEO, John Holland-Kaye, said: “Throughout this crisis, we have tried to protect front line jobs, but this is no longer sustainable, and we have now agreed a voluntary severance scheme with our union partners. While we cannot rule out further job reductions, we will continue to explore options to minimise the number of job losses.”
The news comes as a report by the New Economics Foundation warned that at least 70,000 UK jobs aviation sector and aviation supply jobs are at risk in the next three months.
Heathrow is urging the Government to establish ‘air bridges’ to low risk countries that will enable the country to restart its economy in earnest, protecting livelihoods in aviation and the sectors that rely on it.
Despite an increase in cargo only aircraft, overall cargo tonnage has decreased by 40 per cent as the bulk of cargo usually travels in the belly hold of passenger planes.
These trials are part of a wider programme looking at how technology could reduce the risk of contracting or transmitting COVID-19 when travelling and in future could help create a Common International Standard for health screening.
Traffic Figures
Terminal Passengers
(000s)May 2020 % Change Jan to
May 2020% Change Jun 2019 to
May 2020% Change Market UK 12 -97.3 935 -50.6 3,882 -24.2 EU 92 -96.2 4,740 -55.4 21,584 -27.5 Non-EU Europe 11 -97.5 1,098 -51.4 4,534 -26.6 Africa 8 -96.9 800 -44.9 2,861 -24.4 North America 31 -98.2 3,275 -53.9 15,008 -24.8 Latin America 4 -96.7 314 -44.9 1,127 -24.5 Middle East 30 -94.2 1,684 -43.2 6,471 -21.6 Asia / Pacific 39 -95.6 2,234 -51.9 9,067 -27.9 Blanks 1 0.0 1 0.0 1 0.0 Total 228 -96.6 15,082 -52.1 64,535 -26.0 Air Transport Movements May 2020 % Change Jan to
May 2020% Change Jun 2019 to
May 2020% Change Market UK 216 -94.2 9,277 -41.4 34,186 -17.3 EU 1,428 -92.4 44,580 -48.1 168,016 -26.7 Non-EU Europe 270 -92.7 10,024 -45.2 35,292 -25.7 Africa 255 -79.1 3,887 -39.8 12,661 -22.5 North America 1,552 -79.3 20,291 -39.8 70,020 -22.0 Latin America 75 -85.3 1,510 -40.2 4,987 -25.0 Middle East 930 -60.4 8,439 -31.2 26,751 -18.6 Asia / Pacific 1,629 -57.9 12,181 -38.0 39,875 -22.8 Blanks 121 – 121 – 121 – Total 6,476 -84.4 110,310 -43.4 391,909 -24.0 Cargo
(Metric Tonnes)May 2020 % Change Jan to
May 2020% Change Jun 2019 to
May 2020% Change Market UK 59 -4.2 302 26.1 759 0.0 EU 4,694 -44.4 26,933 -31.7 81,921 -25.3 Non-EU Europe 2,856 -41.1 13,067 -44.5 46,530 -26.0 Africa 4,552 -46.9 26,771 -34.6 79,169 -22.5 North America 25,154 -44.4 174,257 -29.2 493,082 -24.7 Latin America 977 -79.4 12,506 -46.7 43,397 -28.0 Middle East 15,766 -26.5 83,653 -18.6 239,969 -12.8 Asia / Pacific 24,278 -40.3 126,180 -36.4 394,516 -27.5 Blanks 2,314 – 2,314 – 2,314 – Total 80,650 -39.8 465,985 -31.3 1,381,659 -23.8
