Heathrow July traffic down 88% as airport slams quarantine rules

Passenger numbers at London's Heathrow Airport slumped 88% in July as bosses said coronavirus quarantine rules were "strangling the economy.

The airport once again called for testing at airports on Tuesday as it is currently maintaining the two-week required quarantine for arriving passengers on arrival as 60% of its route network remained grounded - the rule applies to people flying in from Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Bahamas and Andorra.

Finance minister Rishi Sunak said last week that more countries could be added to the list if the government feels like they are a risk.

Heathrow believes airport testing of passengers could safely keep routes open and restart others to help the UK’s economic recovery.

“Tens of thousands of jobs are being lost because Britain remains cut off from critical markets such as the US, Canada and Singapore,” said Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye.

“The government can save jobs by introducing testing to cut quarantine from higher risk countries, while keeping the public safe from a second wave of COVID.”