British Airways, the UK carrier saw its shares drop by 8 per cent today on news that the British Government is all set to impose tighter restrictions on travellers.

This comes against the background of increased COVID-19 infection rates and the outbreak of a variant, which could spell the beginning of new mutations.

British Airways which has a presence in Jamaica and the Caribbean is part of the IAG Group which includes carriers, Iberia, Air Europa, Aer Lingus, and Vueling.

The UK is calling for a restriction on non-essential travel which will have an impact on the Caribbean’s tourism product, the main economic pillar of many islands in the region.

Many airlines including Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic are already finding it tough to hold on and only last week esteemed auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers said the airline industry will likely see more contraction as COVID-19 continues to put more pressure on air travel. This may well mean smaller fleet sizes and more government aid.

What is clear is that many people across the world will not be flying internationally anytime soon as COVID-19 may well be around for at least the first six months of 2021.

“At the moment the government (UK)  is just putting layer upon layer of blocks on people coming into the country,” CEO of Tours International, Lana Bennett is reported to have told the Financial Times.

Countries across Europe are now putting in place stricter measures at their borders to prevent the spread of the virus and taking the approach that the welfare of their citizens is their number one priority, ahead of economic and financial imperatives.

“We are fully convinced that we must keep borders open in order to keep the internal market functioning but at the same time we are also convinced that restrictions should be possible to implement for non-essential travel,” said President of the EU’s Council, Charles Michel.