Airport owner calls for Covid tests to revive travel industry after lockdown
PASSENGER testing will be the key to reviving the travel industry once the UK’s latest holiday flight ban has been lifted, the boss of Southend Airport’s owners Stobart Group said today.
It reported a 90% drop in traffic in six-months, down to 124,000, with half-year revenues down 49% in its aviation arm contributing to an underlying pre-tax loss across the group of £16.1million.
The airport’s global freight and cargo operation was able to continue to operate through the pandemic, leading to an overall loss just £600,000 worse than in the same period of 2019.
Stobart Energy, the group’s waste-to-fuel division, saw revenues fall just over a fifth to £33.2m after recycling centres were closed down.
Shares in the group rose by 1.64p to 20.4p in early trading, down from 122.6 year-on-year.
Warwick Brady, CEO, said the government’s “chopping and changing” rules over quarantine over the summer had created “havoc” and called for the introduction of pre-departure testing when the second lockdown ends.
He told the Standard: “The industry has been crippled by uncertainty, but the demand is there and the market will return. It’s going to be a very tough winter but aviation will be back: the question is when, not if.”
He added that talks were ongoing with potential buyers for its regional airline Stobart Air, which operates Aer Lingus flights to Ireland, from 2022.
Analysts at Canaccord Genuity hailed Stobart Group’s “impressive” performance in an “unprecedented” situation.
