The pilots union said the tacit ban on domestic and international leisure travel from Thursday (5 November) until 2 December had come as a "yet another body blow" for the airline sector, and the thousands of livelihoods it supports,

"Airlines, airports, handling companies, and many others who provide services to this vital sector, are struggling to survive and are desperate for government support," said Balpa on Wednesday (4 November).

The union has made six immediate and urgent demands of government which it says will help the aviation sector survive the second lockdown, and weather the Covid crisis.

They are:

• A commitment to end the ban on leisure travel by 2 December;
• Sector-specific financial compensation ring-fenced away from shareholders;
• A 12-month waiver of Air Passenger Duty;
• A moratorium on any further job losses to prevent long-lasting damage to the sector;
• Roll out of airport Covid-19 testing ready to go at the end of lockdown as an alternative to the ever-changing quarantine and lockdown restrictions which would give passengers confidence to book and travel; and
• Urgent publication of the government’s promised Relaunch and Recovery Plan.

Balpa general secretary Brian Strutton said: “If the government were determined to destroy the airline industry, they couldn’t be doing a better job right now. We’ve had promise after promise of sector support and have seen none.

“In the meantime, hundreds of pilots and thousands of other workers have lost their jobs, and thousands more have taken pay cuts or are working part time.

“This is crunch time. We need action now. The government simply must respond if it wants a functioning airline industry to exist after the winter to power our economic recovery post-Covid.”