Liverpool John Lennon Airport supports over 7,000 jobs locally, many of my Constituents work as ground staff and in other roles, and our airport is key to economic growth in the City Region. Like so many of our businesses, the airport has been hit hard by the Coronavirus crisis as it received no international flights for a full month between mid-April and Mid-May.

The Government’s strangely timed imposition of a 14-day quarantine for all visitors to the UK in June hasn’t helped the problems faced by our airport and the aviation sector across the country. At the height of the pandemic, the Government resisted calls from MPs to introduce quarantine measures saying that they would be ineffective. But only now, at a time when airline companies are tentatively resuming flights, have they changed course.

I asked the Minister for Transport what support the Government would provide to regional airports, given the strange timing of the quarantine announcement. You can read my question and the Minister’s inadequate response here.

I’ve also written to the Chancellor calling on him to provide business rates relief for the aviation sector, to help our airport and the jobs it supports recover from COVID-19. You can view the letter below.