Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made in establishing the Restart, Recovery and Engagement unit; and what plans he has for the (a) work objectives of that unit and (b) engagement of that unit with the aviation industry.

In response to Covid-19, the Department for Transport established its Aviation Restart, Recovery, and Engagement Unit at the beginning of the pandemic. The objectives of the unit are to support the restart of the sector, enable its safe recovery post Covid-19, and the Unit has engaged with industry throughout this process.

As part of the Aviation Restart, Recovery, and Engagement Unit, the Department established the Expert Steering Group to engage and consult with the sector regularly. This Group has supported work done to date including the development of the aviation sector health measures guidance and implementation of the International Travel Corridors. In addition, Ministers and officials continue to meet with Airlines, Airports, Ground Handling companies and industry bodies frequently throughout the crisis.

The Government has now also launched the Global Travel Taskforce, which is considering:

• How a domestic testing regime for international arrivals could be implemented to boost safe travel to and from the UK and allow UK residents to travel with confidence;
• What steps we can take to facilitate global business and tourist travel, including through bilateral agreements and multilateral forums by exploring with key international partners issues such as global common standards, testing models, “bubbles”, measures around enforcement, exemptions and other border management measures;
• What steps we can take to increase consumer confidence, ensure existing measures are being properly adhered to and restart international travel safely.

The Global Travel Taskforce is also engaging with the sector on these points.