Ryanair Still Flying to Spain

Budget EU airline Ryanair have announced it will continue flights in and out of Spain as normal, despite the reintroduction of a 14-day quarantine on arrivals from the country into the UK.

The travel industry and holidaymakers have been thrown into chaos by the UK government’s decision to re-impose self-isolation measures, but Ryanair’s chief financial officer said, “As things stand, the market remains open, the schedules remain in place”. 

The airline follows British Airways and easyJet in announcing no change to their operations while BA bosses have called the new rules another “big blow” to the industry. While Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has previously described quarantine measures as a “political stunt”.

With 99% of its fleet grounded due to the pandemic, Ryanair have announced they suffered a €185m loss in the first three months of the financial year and has called this period the most challenging in its history. Last year seen the airline record a €243m profit over the same April-to-June period.

With these financial difficulties in mind it is therefore no surprise that the airline says a second wave of Covid-19 cases is their “biggest fear”.

In May, Ryanair announced they would be axing 3,000 roles across Europe, but a deal was done earlier this month to safeguard UK cabin crew jobs who will instead take temporary pay cuts. Meanwhile, the airline will close their base at Frankfurt Hahn airport in Germany after pilots rejected pay reductions.

In some good news for customers, Ryanair have said they expect to clear more than 90% of refunds for cancelled flights by the end of July.