Airport bosses at Gatwick have called for the testing of double jabbed travellers to be scrapped as he says the UK aviation sector is bouncing back much slower than the rest of Europe.
The airport says that comparable data shows the UK is suffering as a result of the requirement.
The current rules mean even those who have been double jabbed and are flying in from a green-list country must provide proof of a negative Covid test within two days of landing in the UK.
The airport says bookings in Europe - where testing regulations are more relaxed - are at 60 per cent of pre-Covid levels while they remain at 30 per cent in the UK.
Newly released comparable data shows UK aviation sector is recovering slower than Europe
In a statement, the airport said it was calling on the Government to 'throw a lifeline' to the UK aviation industry by removing the requirement for testing altogether for travellers who have been double vaccinated.
The airport says that with proof, double vaccinated travellers can currently enter the majority of European countries without needing to be tested, including in France, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Germany, among others.
It has proposed that passengers who are not double vaccinated should have to take a lateral flow test and then, if that is positive, take a PCR test.
Quarantine should remain for those flying in from red list countries, it has said.
Stewart Wingate, Gatwick CEO, said: 'With vaccination rates across Europe comparable, if not better, than the UK's, the time has come for testing to be removed altogether for travellers who have been double jabbed.
'Other countries have done this and their aviation sectors are recovering much faster with bookings in Europe recovering twice as fast as in the UK.
'Our continued travel restrictions are out of step with much of Europe and continue to have a real impact on jobs and livelihoods, business and growth opportunities while also keeping friends and family apart.
'Passenger confidence in the UK has been shattered and the UK travel industry urgently needs thrown a lifeline so that we can start to recover properly from the most difficult period in our history.'
Travellers returning to the UK from countries on the government’s green list, as well as fully vaccinated passengers coming from amber countries, must currently pay for a PCR test within two days of arriving in the UK.
Those arriving from amber countries who have not been double-jabbed must pay for tests on days two and eight, as well as self-isolating for 10 days upon entry to the UK.
PCR travel tests, which must be purchased privately from a list of government-approved providers, cost around £75 on average in the UK.
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) last month urged No10 to pay for tests for double-jabbed travellers or replace the PCR requirement with cheaper lateral flow tests.
There are dozens of options available for just £20, according to the Government's list of approved Covid PCR test providers.
But some of the companies listed are actually charging nearly five times that amount.
Queue chaos: Dozens of passengers line up to get through immigration gates at Heathrow Terminal 5 today
'Dante's Purgatory': Heathrow passenger likens today's chaos at Terminal 5 to the Divine Comedy, an epic 14th century poem about a man's journey through hell.
The WTTC, which represents the global private travel and tourism sector, also warned last week that unless international travel opens up more widely, with simplified controls, the UK is facing a loss of £59.4 billion.
The WTTC says this is based on 2019 pre-pandemic levels and that it estimates it will be lost from the UK’s economy if travel remains curtailed over the final quarter of 2021 and, furthermore, £8.9billion could be lost purely due to the lack of inbound travel spending within the UK.
The E-Gates of HELL: Heathrow is likened to 'Dante’s purgatory' with 'massive queues', 'no social distancing' and 'arguments breaking out' - as Priti Patel demands airports get queue chaos 'sorted' but bosses blame Border Force Queues formed at Luton at 1am as problems at arrivals spread to other UK airports to fury of passengers Man faints at Manchester Airport as luggage spilled from conveyor belts as people waited in passport control Passengers have posted images on Twitter showing a long queue at the arrivals of Heathrow Terminal 3 It comes after arrivals faced huge delays at airport's Terminal 5 on Friday, when passengers reportedly fainted The Home Office, responsible for Border Force, yesterday branded the chaos at Heathrow as 'unacceptable' ***Have YOU been waiting to get through immigration? Send photos to [email protected]***Air passengers described 'total chaos' at Heathrow's £4.2billion Terminal 5 today as rows broke out in passport control and exasperated people who had already spent hours waiting to enter Britain then had to wait in long lines for the car park, MailOnline can reveal.
Witnesses said they had 'never seen anything like it' as 'massive queues' also appeared at Luton and Manchester airports and travellers raged that the country is fast becoming an international 'laughing stock'.
One woman caught up in the chaos described rows in arrivals at Heathrow - and to add insult to injury, a wait of 30 minutes just to get to their parked cars.
She told MailOnline: 'I've never seen anything like it. There were massive queues', adding there were 'arguments breaking out with staff about the number of broken e-gates'. 'It seems like the whole terminal is in total chaos', she said, adding she had to queue for half an hour just to get in the lift that goes to the car park.
Catriona MacLeod, an academic from the University of Chicago, tweeted that after an hour at the UK border she had 'not advanced more than 6 inches'. Another woman caught in the chaos wrote: '@HeathrowAirport is like Dante’s purgatory'.
The delays have got worse as families returned from their summer holidays for the start of the school term, one traveller collapsed after landing in London and luggage was seen tumbling from conveyor belts because queues at 'poorly managed' arrivals halls were up to five hours with Heathrow bosses blaming the 'unacceptable' waiting times this weekend on Border Force staff shortages.
Queues snaked through arrivals at Luton at 1am today - but the airport, amid anger from passengers, pointed the finger at border officials carrying out 'additional checks'. There were similar scenes at Manchester airport's Terminal 2 – back open after a £1 billion revamp. One elderly passenger is said to have fainted as the queues piled up with many forced to wait for hours.
Yesterday the Home Office, which runs Britain's under fire Border Force, finally admitted the near-daily queues were 'unacceptable', MPs and travel industry figures demanded meaningful action, warning the chaotic scenes were blighting the UK’s global reputation while running the risk of a spike in Covid cases – further jeopardising the already crisis-hit tourism sector and stifling business with the post-Brexit UK.
Former Cabinet minister John Redwood told MailOnline that he believes Priti Patel has already told Border Force and the airports to get the situation ‘sorted’ - but said she may now need to exert even more pressure as queues formed despite relatively low numbers travelling.
She said: ‘It is not as if the passenger volumes are huge. The management has to have a good look and see what needs to be done. It doesn’t create a good impression. You want people to have a smooth return from holiday and you want business people to have a good progress through the system now we are trying to rebuild.
‘We also want vigilance at our borders. You don’t want to sacrifice safety so you have got to have sufficient resource so that it is done properly,’ he said.
‘But any UK national who has got the right documentation shouldn’t have to hang around… It has got to be a better service for British taxpayers who pay for all this. ‘You go to a foreign country to win business to Britain or go for a foreign holiday, you expect to be able to get back into your country easily. But we also expect a vigilant border force.’
'Dante's Purgatory': Heathrow passenger likens today's chaos at Terminal 5 to the Divine Comedy, an epic 14th century poem about a man's journey through hell.
Queue chaos: Dozens of passengers line up to get through immigration gates at Heathrow Terminal 5 today
There was even a long queue for the Heathrow T5 car park today for people who had already been waiting for hours to get through passport control
Queues at just before 1am today at Luton Airport today as the queues at arrivals spread from Heathrow to across the UK
Meanwhile, in Manchester, there were also delays at Manchester Airport. Passengers were seen standing in long snaking queues leading up to border control at the airport's newly refurbished terminal (pictured)
Pictures show luggage piled up on conveyor belts and floors because passengers were caught up in queues
One image even appears to show a male traveller lying on the floor in Heathrow's Terminal 5 on Friday night after passing out while queueing
Anastasia Tolmacova filmed the chaos at Luton Airport at 1am this morning, with hundreds of people queuing through the terminal where social distancing went out of the window.
She said: 'Massive queues at London Luton airport past midnight. Any social distancing is virtually impossible. Why do we have to pay extra for overpriced covid tests when the situation at the border is so poorly managed?'
Newly released comparable data shows UK aviation sector is recovering slower than EU
Airport bosses at Gatwick have called for the testing of double jabbed travellers to be scrapped as he says the UK aviation sector is bouncing back much slower than the rest of Europe.
The airport says that comparable data shows the UK is suffering as a result of the requirement.
The current rules mean even those who have been double jabbed and are flying in from a green-list country must provide proof of a negative Covid test within two days of landing in the UK.
The airport says bookings in Europe - where testing regulations are more relaxed - are at 60 per cent of pre-Covid levels while they remain at 30 per cent in the UK.
In a statement, the airport said it was calling on the Government to 'throw a lifeline' to the UK aviation industry by removing the requirement for testing altogether for travellers who have been double vaccinated.
The airport says that with proof, double vaccinated travellers can currently enter the majority of European countries without needing to be tested, including in France, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Germany, among others.
It has proposed that passengers who are not double vaccinated should have to take a lateral flow test and then, if that is positive, take a PCR test.
Quarantine should remain for those flying in from red list countries, it has said.
Stewart Wingate, Gatwick CEO, said: 'With vaccination rates across Europe comparable, if not better, than the UK's, the time has come for testing to be removed altogether for travellers who have been double jabbed.
'Other countries have done this and their aviation sectors are recovering much faster with bookings in Europe recovering twice as fast as in the UK.
'Our continued travel restrictions are out of step with much of Europe and continue to have a real impact on jobs and livelihoods, business and growth opportunities while also keeping friends and family apart.
'Passenger confidence in the UK has been shattered and the UK travel industry urgently needs thrown a lifeline so that we can start to recover properly from the most difficult period in our history.'
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The scenes of passengers queuing at UK airports have sparked furious demands for ministers to intervene. MPs and travel industry figures last night demanded a meaningful response from Home Secretary Priti Patel and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, saying the chaotic scenes were blighting the UK's global reputation and running the risk of a spike in Covid cases.
Luton Airport said the delays were not their fault. A spokesman said: 'We're sorry for any inconvenience caused by additional checks at the UK Border. Border Force is responsible for this part of the journey and we continue to work with them to ensure wait times are reduced as much as possible'.
Paul Charles, of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said ministers appeared to be 'deliberately sowing complexity around global travel'. 'How does it look to other countries?' he said. 'It sends the message that Britain is not fit for purpose.'
Henry Smith, Tory chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on general aviation, said:
