PL
EN
Dear Prime Minister!
Two weeks ago, you announced the opening of borders and lifting of the ban on international flights. The entire aviation industry, business and passengers (people!) took these words seriously. You, the Prime Minister gave people hope that there is a chance to return to normality.
However, the borders have not been completely abolished, contrary to your declaration. The night before their opening, you banned flights to countries such as Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Sweden and Portugal. For most industries it is about 30% of the market. At the same time, the day before your announcement of the opening of borders, the government closed 30% of the market.
Did the situation change so drastically during the week that you could not predict it and announce such information in advance? From this picture, chaos emerges, in which we, i.e. entrepreneurs of the aviation and tourism industry, have to conduct business responsibly. We assure you, Mr. Prime Minister that in these conditions it not possible.
To plan your business responsibly, we need to know in advance what awaits us. Airports, airlines and tour operators are not hairdressers that can be opened overnight. We must plan our activities on individual markets well in advance. Airports need to prepare the infrastructure and personnel to fly in the conditions of a pandemic, airlines must launch their systems, including ticket sales, tour operators must prepare an offer for passengers, and passengers must have time to plan their trip. All this is not done overnight, only from week to week or from month to month.
We, the aviation industry entrepreneurs do not understand what determines the position of the government? After all, the epidemic situation in each of these countries is significantly different (according to WHO’si data on the 23rd of June there were 295 cases of new infections in Portugal, while in France open for traffic from Poland - 325. In Poland, the number of daily cases of infections from one week oscillates between 500 and 300). Is the number or trend of incidence important for such a serious decision? If it is about the trend - then which one? Or maybe the infection rate is important? Who makes such decisions? None of us received clear information. We have no knowledge about risk and thus we cannot mitigate it. And this information is necessary for us to conduct our business.
We thought that the task of the government is to create conditions for the development of the country, not its devastation. Lack of clear criteria and strategies always creates chaos. By your actions, you destroy our plans to return to normal activities. The effect of the lack of strategy for our businesses will soon be comparable to the next wave of the epidemic, but this time it can affect thousands of jobs. Here, however, it will be easy to identify the guilty party.
We are extremely disappointed that the decision to restore border traffic, despite the fact that it has long been awaited by the tourist, aviation and other business entities, was taken chaotically and without any strategy.
As representatives of the industry for which the sale of tourist services and air tickets in advance and the need for marketing communication prior to sales activities is crucial, we urge you to provide us with a plan that guides the government when making decisions related to closing or opening the borders of selected countries.
Clearly adopted criteria that will enable us to plan our business and free our clients from the stress of travel uncertainty are important to us.
Signatures:
Jozsef Varadi, CEO WIZZ AIR Hungary Ltd.
Michał Kaczmarzyk, CEO BUZZ; Ryanair Group: Ryanair UK, BUZZ, Malta Air, Lauda
Frantisek Siling, Country Sales Manager AIR FRANCE KLM Poland
Andrzej Kobielski, CEO, Magdalena Mossakowska Borys BARIP Executive Director of the Board of Airline Representatives in Poland (BARIP)
Grzegorz Polaniecki, CEO, Marcin Kubrak, VP EnterAir Ltd.
Grzegorz Baszczyński, CEO RAINBOW TOURS SA
Piotr Henicz, VP Nowa Itaka Ltd.
Wojciech Skoczyński, CEO GRECOS HOLIDAY Ltd.
Maciej Nykiel, CEO NEKERA Ltd.
Marcin Dymnicki, CEO TUI Poland Ltd.
Jakub Szynklewski, Member of the Board BARTOLINI AIR Ltd.
Wojciech Piotr Skwirowski, President of Board Polish Airspace Foundation
Tomasz Kloskowski, CEO Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport
Anna Midera, Ph.D., CEO Lodz Airport Central Poland