27 April 2020
Airlines UK, the trade body for UK registered airlines, has written to the chancellor Rishi Sunak to urge him to consider extending the government furlough scheme.
The letter warns that a return to normality for international aviation would be “gradual”, and that aviation was facing a “cliff-edge post-June” once the furlough scheme lapses on June 30.
The airline body has stressed that recovery in air travel will be slow with European air traffic currently down 90%.
EasyJet and British Airways are among the carriers to have capitalised on the scheme so far, with BA having furloughed in excess of 30,000 staff.
