GATWICK Airport could resume flights as soon as next month.
The airport has been forced to ground nearly all flights due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the remaining flights primarily for rescuing stranded travellers.
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Airport chief executive Stewart Wingate told the Eastbourne Herald: “We hope operations will start up at the end of May or early June and build during July and August.”
Current flights include to Dublin with Ryanair and to Budapest with Wizz Air, as well as a Kuwait route with Jazeera Airways.
British Airways was forced to ground all flights from Gatwick Airport earlier this month.
Mr Wingate explained that just five to ten flights were currently in operation per day, along with cargo-operating flight, compared to “800 and up to 950 in the summer peaks”.
“We have been hurt badly by Covid-19 but we have remained open.”
While it isn’t clear which routes would be operational first, he added that he was “optimistic” the airport would survive in the long term.
However, regional airports are feared to be badly affected and could even face permanent closure.
Many of them have already been hit hard by the collapse of Flybe, which operated primarily domestic routes across the UK.
Now, 90 per cent of flights are grounded and the airports are being forced to operate in other ways – Edinburgh and East Midlands have become coronavirus testing centres while Birmingham is a temporary mortuary.
Gatwick Airport has turned their long-stay car park into a drive-through testing too.
Earlier this month, Mr Wingate also called for passengers to be tested for coronavirus 48 hours before take off once the lockdown has ended.
He told The Times: “Whether these tests should be carried out in the airports or whether they would be better carried out in the communities are things that should be debated.
“For example, would it be better for a passenger to arrive at an airport with some sort of certification that said ‘I have been checked over the last 48 hours and I am Covid-free?’
“Those are the sorts of things that I am sure will be considered by the restart and recovery group.”
He added: “Passengers increasingly are travelling wearing facial coverings and I am sure that’s something that the government team will be considering.”
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Destinations such as Thailand and Spain have suggested the need for immunity documents or health passports to allow international tourists to enter the country.
However, the UK does not currently issue them, with fears that they are not accurate enough due to risks of second infections.
Other measures for travellers are currently being trialled – for example, Emirates recently introduced a compulsory blood test for passengers boarding a flight, with plans to roll it out on other flights.
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