Heathrow CEO, John Holland-Kaye, stated on Monday that the country needs a government plan on how to reopen the economy and restart aviation, adding that otherwise hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost.
"We cannot go on like this as a country. We need to start planning to reopen our borders. If we don't get aviation moving again quickly, in a very safe way, then we are going to lose hundreds of thousands if not millions of jobs in the UK just at the time when we need to be rebuilding our economy," John Holland-Kaye told Sky News.
Meanwhile, EasyJet's Chief Executive Johan Lundgren told Sky News that the company could make further job cuts if the government's quarantine policy continues for a long period.
Earlier in the day, Michael O'Leary, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Europe's largest budget airline Ryanair, stated that the company will not cancel flights to and from the United Kingdom despite the introduction of a 14-day quarantine for international travellers.
"No, because the flights are full outbound of the UK. British people are ignoring this quarantine, they know it's rubbish”, O'Leary stated.
Britain has introduced a 14-day quarantine period for international arrivals despite warnings from its biggest airlines that the move will decimate domestic tourism and damage exports.
Following the announcement of the measures, Ryanair, EasyJet, and British Airways (BA) owner IAG have threatened legal action over what they call a draconian move that will cripple the British tourism industry.
The spread of the coronavirus has led to an unprecedented decline in international travel, with airlines struggling to stay afloat as demand plummets. In April, the UK's largest airline British Airways announced that it would cut some 12,000 jobs to deal with the consequences of reduced flights.