Travel industry threatens government with legal action

‘We’ve reached the end of our tether,’ says Andrew Flintham, managing director, Tui UK

As ministers warn that summer holidays abroad remain uncertain, the travel industry has threatened the government with legal action.

Andrew Flintham, UK managing director for Britain’s biggest holiday company, Tui, told an industry-wide conference: “We’ve reached the end of our tether.

“We’ve always said that working with government has been the way forward but we’re now at a point of taking legal action because the government’s actions do not reflect that work we’ve put in with them.”

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, the biggest players in the UK travel industry have largely pulled their punches. But with a second summer peak season looking increasingly likely to be scuppered, they are becoming more vocal in their criticism of ministers.

Speaking at the online Abta Travel Matters event, Mr Flintham said: “We’ve given up trying to predict where we are. I think the government regularly paints a picture of all the barriers that are in the way.

“They are trying to keep a lid on the expectation that people can travel.

“The crux of the question is why are we not up and running when everyone else in Europe is up and running?”

He warned that there were “many, many businesses that are perilously close to failing.”

Earlier, the chief executive of Abta, Mark Tanzer, said: “At our hour of greatest need the government seems intent on looking away.

“We come together at the darkest hour in recent travel history. You don’t need me to tell you of the carnage wrought by the pandemic, and the devastating impact it continues to have on travel businesses and travel lives.

“We all had hopes that 17 May – the date for the supposed ‘safe restart of international travel’ – would mark the beginning of the most crucial summer season in living memory. But that was not to be.

“The secretary of state for transport said it would be travel but ‘not as you know it’. Well, that is certainly true.

“The only tourist destinations currently open on the government green list are Iceland and Gibraltar which – charming though they are – account for less than half of one per cent of UK outbound tourism.

“And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the government has further damaged the immediate prospects for international travel by warning against leisure travel to amber list countries, despite having its own system of testing and quarantining on return, adding another major customer disincentive to the hurdles that are already in place.

“The wolves are at the door. Every day counts in regaining this summer season - getting customers confident to book and to travel, and getting money into cash-starved businesses.”

Mr Tanzer said that Abta, the travel association, was considering legal action to force the government to reveal its analysis of the effects of travel restrictions on the industry.

A government spokesperson said: “We continue to engage extensively with the industry to explore how we can open international travel safely, whilst ensuring we protect public health.

“We recognise the challenging times facing all sectors of transport as a result of Covid-19, which is why we have put in place an economy-wide support package, including around​ £7bn of support benefitting the air transport sector.”

The two were speaking as new figures revealed that Heathrow airport had slumped month by month down the European passenger rankings even as the vaccination programme in the UK was gaining ground.