Vaccine hope has not dissuaded aviation sector from mandatory testing

The aviation industry has made further calls for coronavirus testing to replace lockdown restrictions in an attempt to prevent further losses from the ongoing pandemic.

Last week, it was reported that British Airways and its transatlantic partner American Airlines would be introducing coronavirus tests on selected commercial flights, both to prove to governments that travel could be safe, provided the correct measures were taken, and as a way of encouraging the general public to resume travel so to minimise losses for the sector after being grounded for almost a year.

The heads of other companies have offered their support for the initiative, including Delta Air Lines, Airbus and easyJet. The companies are currently lobbying countries such as the UK to mandate measures before the industry is irreparably damaged.

This comes two weeks after the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine completed phase III trials with a reported 90% efficacy. 6,000 volunteers have signed up to be inoculated as the company prepares to ship over 1 billion doses to various partners including the US, EU and UK.

This morning it was also revealed the vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford - which had recently shown promising results in clinical trials - also has a preliminary efficacy rate of as much as 90%.

However, this "vaccine optimism" has not waylaid the aviation sector's calls for further testing owing to mass inoculation being a huge logistical challenge.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian told the FT that "testing is going to be critical to opening up international travel. It is going to take a while before the vaccine rollout."

"A vaccine could be a 'negative to travel' as people may hold off booking flights until they have been immunised," he added.

Johan Lundgren, the CEO of easyJet also told the FT:  “I think there are reasons to be positive. But as you would imagine and expect, nobody knows how long this pandemic will continue before you see the vaccine being rolled out.”

The UK recently initiated further lockdown restrictions to persist until the beginning of December and has extended its furlough scheme until the end of March, which has sent some businesses into panic mode.

A fresh lockdown is what spurred BA into action as the potential quarantine measures to extend until March could have severe ramifications for the transport sector as a whole.

The UK coach sector has already seen several family-run businesses go under without intervention from the government.

In Europe, the entire aviation sector has faced catastrophe owing to the crisis. Back in September, there was a petition to the European Commission to reopen the travel sector owing to massive losses for the industry.

A lack of demand for travel also played its part in causing oil prices to drop throughout the year, causing some companies to sell their shares in oilfields or to turn to renewable energy in an attempt to cut their losses.

Across the globe, governments are switching towards more renewable energy sources for their post-pandemic recovery in order to tackle climate change before it's too late. There are also forecasts that this could make the energy sector less vulnerable during times of economic crisis.

BA chief executive Sean Doyle said: “The vaccine is great news, and we are encouraged by that. But the details of when it is rolled out, to what scale and when it will have a material effect on travel is unclear. It is obvious we need a solution in the short term to get travel going again.”

Both new vaccines are expected to gain government approval in the UK before the end of the year.

The NHS has already begun setting up vaccine centres in key locations across England.

The process will create as many as 6,000 temporary new jobs.

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