British Airways considers legal action to block Government's 14-day quarantine

British Airways’ parent company is considering legal action against the Government in an attempt to overturn the 14-day quarantine on international arrivals to the UK.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of IAG, said he was consulting lawyers about a legal challenge to protect airlines from an “irrational and disproportionate” measure that would wreck the aviation industry.

Ryanair which is led by Michael O’Leary, a persistent critic of the plans, said it would support “any legal action launched by IAG against this ineffective quarantine.”

Businessman Simon Dolan also yesterday threatened to seek a judicial review of the quarantine, because of the “insurmountable” damage it threatened to the aviation and travel industry.

Quarantine, which is due to begin on Monday, will require all international arrivals, including returning Britons, to self-isolate for 14 days but will be reviewed in three weeks during which the aviation industry is pressing for “air bridges” to be introduced.

BA is planning up to 12,000 redundancies, while Virgin Atlantic has announced more than 3,000 job cuts and Ryanair at least 3,000. EasyJet plans to axe up to 4,500 posts.

Mr Walsh said the introduction of quarantine on Monday would “torpedo” the opportunity for BA to get flights back in July after the collapse in passenger numbers since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. BA had planned to put on a 40 per cent service in July.

He said: “We think [quarantine] is irrational, we think it's disproportionate, and we are giving consideration to a legal challenge to this legislation. We're reviewing that with the lawyers later on today.

"I suspect there are other airlines who are doing so because it's important to point out there was no consultation with the industry prior to enacting this legislation.

He said such action may be necessary to ensure airlines “can survive this and have a competitive business for the future” as the crisis facing the industry was “unprecedented.”

“We are not flying. In May we had 485 passenger flights. We did that by lunchtime on May 1 last year. This is the most difficult challenge that the airline industry has ever faced,” he added.

Setting out the airline’s “unsustainable” financial position in a letter to MPs, he said it was burning through about £20 million of cash a day, and had taken on an extra £800 million of debt to bolster its finances.

His intervention came after a furious row with the Government Thursday after it boycotted an industry summit with Priti Patel to discuss her quarantine plans.

BA failed to turn up amid claims by industry sources that it believed the quarantine to be “unworkable” and economically damaging and the meeting a “waste of time.”

Downing Street said it would not comment on the proposed legal action.

But the Prime Minister's official spokesman added: "As the Home Secretary said at yesterday's meeting, we want to work with industry across the board through this pandemic - that includes BA. Obviously we're disappointed they chose not to attend the meeting."

Another Government source said on Thursday: “It’s a shame that BA don’t want to directly make their case to the Home Secretary and the aviation minister. Clearly they are not serious about working to get Britain moving again.”

Mr Dolan, who has also mounted a crowd-funded legal action against lockdown, gave the Home Office until yesterday evening to back down or face legal action.

“This government should postpone the quarantine so we can appropriately consider this and flesh out a more appropriate policy like air bridges so Brits can go on holiday this summer,” he said.

Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, has defended quarantine as a public health measure that is needed to  prevent a second wave of coronavirus and a reintroduction of lockdown that would be even more damaging to the economy.   At Thursday’s meeting with 24 aviation and transport bosses, she urged them to work together with the Government to “make the new public health measures work, to safeguard our recovery and allow us to move forward more quickly.”   Yesterday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps refused to set a timetable for easing quarantine, saying only that he hoped it would be possible “later in the year.”

“We all hope - let's give ourselves some hope here - that by later in the year we will have continued to do all the things we have just talked about and got on top of this virus and the signs are in the right direction," he said.   He confirmed ministers were continuing to look at the concept of so-called "air corridors" - allowing travel with countries where Covid-19 transmission was low - but said there was no impending announcement to be made.

It is not just the aviation industry, however, that is opposed to quarantine. A survey of more than 120 of the travel, hotel and hospitality businesses found 71 per cent expected to lay off up to 60 per cent of their staff, while more than a quarter (28 per cent) feared they would go bust.

George Morgan-Grenville, chief executive of travel company Red Savannah, who is leading a campaign against quarantine by the 500 biggest names in tourism and hospitality, has warned there is “palpable anger” at the plans which threaten “untold misery” for thousands facing redundancy.