The call for a judicial review over the system’s “lack of transparency” is being led by Manchester Airports Group (MAG) and is also backed by low-cost carrier Ryanair.
Court papers officially filed on Thursday (17 June), and seen by the Daily Telegraph, show Virgin Atlantic and BA are also “interested parties”, alongside MAG and Ryanair.
The court papers argue the government’s reasons for their decisions on a country’s traffic light status are “undisclosed and the decision-making process lacks transparency in a fundamental way”.
“The decision-making process is akin to a ’black box’, rather than the transparent, risk-based approach,” add the aviation companies in their submission.
MAG wants a judge to rule on whether the UK government’s decision to amend the traffic light list was against the law, and also for any advice that ministers use when changing the system to be published.
