AIRPORT bosses are calling for greater clarity as they prepare for tougher restrictions to be imposed on people travelling to and from the UK.

Ministers are expected to rubber stamp new laws in the coming days which will require passengers travelling to England to take a test up to 72 hours before arriving.

The law, which will affect all modes of transport, will also apply to UK nationals and failure to comply will result in an immediate £500 fine.

Stansted Airport says it will do all it can to support the new laws.

But bosses say the Government must provide more details on how it will support the aviation industry during the latest lockdown, and how travel restrictions will be relaxed once it is over.

A spokesman said: "It is clear that, as a country, we must take all necessary action to prevent the spread of the virus.

"That is why we will do all we can to support the introduction of these additional, stricter measures at a time when new strains have emerged and infection rates are rising.

"At the same time, we need clarity on how aviation will be allowed to resume alongside the rest of the economy, once public health conditions improve.

"Despite being one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic, airports have stayed open and suffered huge losses to support essential air travel such as emergency services, repatriation flights and critical freight operations.

"The Government must set out its plan now for how restrictions will be eased in time for summer, as well as details of the financial support it will provide to airports, which have a central role to play in the U.K’s economic recovery from this pandemic."

The spokesman said bosses were also bracing themselves for a further reduction in passenger numbers.

The number of people using Stansted has dropped by 90 per cent since the pandemic hit but there are fears that number will rise even higher in the coming weeks.

Back in October, Stansted's owner - Manchester Airports Group - announced it had begun a consultation on making 900 staff redundant.

The plans, which have yet to be finalised, could see 376 jobs cut at Stansted, with other redundancies made at Manchester and East Midlands airports respectively.