American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) has called for
‘managed’ business travel to be exempt from new quarantine measures implemented
by the UK government this week.
The TMC, the largest operating in the UK, has been in
dialogue with the Department for Transport (DfT) and has proposed that trips booked
through TMCs should be made an exception alongside other specific roles,
enabling business travel to be “the engine room that really kickstarts the
economy”.
GBT’s chief commercial officer Drew Crawley says the current
14-day self-isolation rule is “irrational, disproportionate and unhelpful” and
“stops travel and economic recovery in its tracks”.
“We obviously proposed [to the DfT] that quarantine measures should be
removed, but in the event that’s not going to happen immediately, an interim
step may be to allow managed business travel to be made an exception in the
same way that other roles and jobs are being made an essential category,”
Crawley told BTN Europe.
“It would allow airports and airlines to test their new Covid-ready processes, get a little bit of volume through, test those processes
and win confidence.
“Bookings through TMCs mean travellers can be contacted and
located during, before and after their trips. That data should give comfort to
employers and employees.”
Crawley adds: “China and South Korea have already made
business travel an exception to their quarantine rules so it’s not uncharted
territory that we’re talking about.”
GBT is also providing the DfT with data covering top
business destinations, with the government exploring the concept of air bridges
or ‘international travel corridors’.
The Quash Quarantine group – of which the TMC is not a member – said it has received private
assurances that air bridges could be in place by 29 June when the first government review of the measures is due.
However, GBT believes the data it supplies the DfT will help
determine the most strategically important destinations – those most valuable
to the UK economy – with which to try and establish air bridges, rather than
simply the nations willing to open up to the UK.
The TMC has also put its name to a proposal from the
Business Travel Association (BTA) to trial PCR tests for passengers returning
from Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam – three key business destinations – that
would mean travellers wouldn’t need to self-isolate for 14 days.
As well as the three cities named by the BTA, GBT's most-booked destinations include New York, Madrid, Zurich and Brussels.