UNIONS led calls today for proper financial support for the transport sector and a science-led approach to the safe reopening of the travel trade.

In the wake of the expansion of the green list of countries from which travellers will not have to automatically quarantine on their return to Britain, GMB national officer Nadine Houghton said that the aviation industry “desperately needs sector-specific furlough arrangements.”

In a sector ravaged by the pandemic, GMB members have faced pay cuts and continuing uncertainty over their jobs, she said.

Demanding that the government end its “stop-start” approach, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Workers in the international travel sector have been one of the hardest hit groups … and they deserve certainty and security as they will have a vital long-term role to play in rebuilding the UK economy.”

The TSSA accused the government of putting thousands of jobs at risk and called for support to get the industry through the summer.

The transport union’s general secretary Manuel Cortes said: “In the fight against coronavirus, it’s vital that we follow the scientific advice and open up safely.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps insisted that the expansion of the green list offered “a little bit of relief for the travel industry,” while many transport bosses lobbied for further easing of travel restrictions, accusing the government of being overcautious.

Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “Boris Johnson’s failure to act let the Delta variant take hold and held back our reopening, with the British people paying the price.”

Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, warned that British travellers posed a greater risk to green-list countries than they do to Britain itself.