LABOUR and unions called on the government today to urgently deliver a rescue package for the aviation sector to save a quarter of a million jobs.

In a letter, shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon pressed his government counterpart to urge Chancellor Rishi Sunak to deliver the aviation-sector deal he promised nine months ago when the first coronavirus lockdown took hold. 

He also asked Grant Shapps to publish assessments of the potential impact of his decision to exempt “high-value” travellers from Covid quarantine restrictions.

Mr Shapps announced last week that from 4am on Saturday December 5, so-called “high-value” business travellers would no longer need to self-isolate when returning to England from a country not in a Covid travel corridor.

Mr McMahon requested a regional breakdown of the effects that the policy could have on the economy and public health, and the full criteria used to determine who falls into the “high-value” category.

In the letter, he suggested that there “are one set of rules for those it considers ‘high-value’ and another for everyone else.”

In response to Labour’s letter, Unite national officer for aviation Oliver Richardson told the Morning Star: “The government has been guilty of failing to deal with the major challenges faced by the aviation industry as a consequences of the pandemic. 

“Allowing the wealthy to avoid quarantine rules faced by the rest of the travelling public does little to support a key UK industry that has been absolutely devastated by job losses.

“The government has long promised an aviation recovery strategy. It is essential that document becomes reality if we are to avoid the unnecessary loss of further aviation jobs.”