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Coronavirus: New aircraft orders slump to record low after pandemic hits global travel industry

The aircraft industry has pleaded for a testing regime for travellers as new figures show its third quarter was the worst on record.

There were no orders for new aircraft in the month of September and just 13 orders placed during the financial quarter, a decline of 91.4% on the same quarter last year.

July and August had four and nine orders respectively, with just three of those for wide-body aircraft.

The global figures are from ADS, the UK trade organisation representing more than 1,100 businesses across the aerospace, defence, security and space sectors.

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There were 173 new aircraft delivered during the third quarter - also the worst on record but showing signs of improvement, the organisation said.

Most of these were single-aisle planes, with just 38 of them wide-body aircraft, showing the decline in demand for long-haul international travel.

The aviation industry has been hit by travel restrictions and a fall in journeys due to fears of the coronavirus pandemic, which began to affect the industry in the early months of this year.

Travellers, particularly in the UK, have also been reluctant to book flights due to the long wait for refunds if trips are cancelled and the requirements for quarantine on their return - measures that are regularly changed.

ADS chief executive Paul Everitt told Sky's Ian King Live programme: "We hope that we've hit the bottom, so to speak, and that things will gradually start to improve.

"It's very clear that shorter haul travel is likely to pick up sooner. I think there's also a sense that the environmental challenges that the sector faces will lead to more airlines focusing around utilising the full range of their single-aisle fleets rather than the larger aircraft."

Mr Everitt said some of the "bigger growth markets", such as China and internal travel in parts of the US, are seeing "a steady improvement".

"I think we're all very confident that markets will return.

"I think the challenge for us all at the moment is the operation of various restrictions...clearly makes passengers wary about committing (to travel).

"Certainly in the UK to reduce the quarantine period linked to testing but also internationally for us to reach agreement around the regimes. One of the challenges at the moment is that different countries operate different regimes so for the passengers and operators there is a lack of certainty."

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Ministers have confirmed they are looking at reducing the time that people have to quarantine at home from 14 days to between 10 days and a week.

It follows concerns some people are failing to respond when they are being contacted by the system because of fears they could face a lengthy period locked up at home if they do.