The Week In Travel

This week saw travel and retail industry executives react pointedly to UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s decision to reverse his predecessor’s reintroduction of VAT-free shopping for foreign visitors to London. The long-standing economic incentive to encourage tourism was originally axed by Rishi Sunak in January, and subsequently brought back by Kwasi Kwarteng in his infamous mini-budget.

Paul Barnes, chief executive of the Association of International Retail, called the move ‘short sighted’, and urged the Chancellor to ‘commit to a full cost-benefit assessment before deciding on the future of tax-free shopping.’ The scheme was estimated to cost the UK government £2 billion a year.

Across the pond, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has announced that it screened the highest daily number of passengers since February 2020, hailing it as an encouraging sign for the industry. The TSA screened nearly 2.51 million travellers last Sunday, and said that passenger numbers were roughly 6% to 7% down on pre-pandemic levels.

In contrast to the positive numbers emerging from the USA, statistics published this week by Melbourne Airport paint a different picture for Australia. While domestic air travel is approaching pre-pandemic levels, international travel is still down 40% on the equivalent month in 2019. Melbourne Airport CEO Lorie Argus has claimed that the slow recovery of international travel reflects the carrying capacity of airlines – with the number of seats at only 60% of September 2019 levels.

In sustainability news, engine-maker Rolls-Royce and sustainable fuel producer Alder Fuels have signed a memorandum of understanding, initiating a partnership that will see Rolls-Royce experiment with the use of SAF provided by Alder. Testing, which will include flight tests on a Rolls-Royce Pearl engine, will evaluate the energy efficiency, emissions criteria, and low-carbon credentials of the SAF produced by Alder – which specialises in developing energy from biomass such as agricultural waste products.

And finally, prospective travellers to the small eastern-European state of Moldova were put out of their misery this week after its UK embassy address was correctly listed on Google Maps. For almost a year, online searchers were directed to the home of a West London man who has now admitted that a plaque he put on his wall marking his house as the Moldovan embassy was a prank. The Fulham resident said he was losing patience having to answer the door to confused foreign dignitaries and diplomats.