Providing more help to travel and aviation would cost £59 million a month based on figures for July, compared with the £850 million cost of Eat Out to Help Out. 

Research from the Liberal Democrats confirms air passenger transport as the most affected sector among all furloughed industries. As of 31 July, 29,700 workers were furloughed, or 51%. They claimed £35 million in July.

Agents and operators were the next most affected part of the economy, with 26,800 jobs furloughed, or 46%. Claims amounted to £24 million in July.

MORE: ’The chancellor must act to prevent a tidal wave of job losses’

In a letter to chancellor Rishi Sunak, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Christine Jardine said the furlough scheme should be extended for another six months for the 10 sectors most reliant on it. 

She said that for 110,000 people in the 10 industries most affected – including aviation and travel - this would cost £600 million in total – or £100 million a month, well below the cost of Eat Out to Help Out and just over half of the total cost of furlough in the month of July.

Jardine urged the chancellor to “consider the impact on the lives of those that could find themselves out of a job at the end of the week”.

She said the 10 industries - which also include convention and trade show organisers, where 25% are still furloughed - “are the ones most likely to see job losses once the scheme ends”.

“Thousands of people relying on furlough are worrying about their livelihoods at a time when the impact of the pandemic is far from over,” she said. “Supporting them and their families is both the right and responsible thing to do. 

“Supporting those workers who face the greatest risk of losing their job is anything but unaffordable. It is essential, and far more affordable than the strain on government finances that mass job losses will cause.”