Only free, mandatory testing will save aviation jobs, unions warn

Tester Samantha Jakstonyte pictured with Niall MacCarthy, Managing Director, Cork Airport at a RocDoc drive-thru Covid-19 testing centre at Cork Airport. Picture: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision

Free, mandatory, and rapid Covid testing must be immediately introduced at airports to save the aviation sector, politicians have been warned.

Unions have said that the urgent rollout of a free mandatory system at airports is needed if the sector is to survive the pandemic.

The Oireachtas transport committee has been told that private companies are charging upwards of €150 for a test which, unions have warned, will stunt recovery in the sector and will have a knock-on impact on the economy overall.

“With a cost per passenger starting at €149 per test, this may inhibit any real progress, as it presents a significant cost barrier to people weighing up their travel plans,” deputy general secretary of trade union Fórsa, Matt Staunton, told the committee.

Irish Airline Pilots Association president Evan Cullen said that many other European countries are now using cheaper, faster antigen testing rather than the more expensive PCR screening that the Government has stipulated must be used here.

He said the introduction of mandatory rapid testing for all arriving and departing passengers and crew would "allow us to safely open up our skies once again".

This was echoed by Siptu's divisional organiser Karan O'Loughlin, who said: "There should be some type of testing available, some free testing, so that we can get back to changing the conversation about safe travelling, rather than having to look forward to another 12 months of travelling for absolute necessity. The aviation industry is just not going to survive that."

Committee chair Kieran O'Donnell agreed that the Government now needs to look at mandatory testing for both orange-rated and red-rated countries in the EU's traffic-light system for international travel.

Mr Cullen said that around half of the association's 1,200 members are getting no income from their employer due to redundancy or lay-off.

The other 50% are only being paid between 25% and 30% of the normal full-time income.

"If the effective shutdown of our sector continues for any length of time, then the impact on Irish pilots will be catastrophic," he said.

"Hence our desire to get Irish aviation safely operating again in line with our European partners."