RYANAIR DEFIES ‘NO FLIGHTS TO CARDIFF’ PLEA:
BUDGET airline Ryanair has insisted it will run flights from Cardiff Airport tomorrow – in defiance of Welsh Government calls to cancel them.
And it yesterday emerged that people flying into Wales will just get an email if they need to self-isolate to adhere to quarantine rules.
The flights row erupted after ministers were anxious to ensure the fivemile “stay local” coronavirus lockdown rule in Wales is adhered to.
That rule remains in force until Monday and would apply to passengers travelling to and from the airport,
But in the meantime, Ryanair flights are scheduled tomorrow to Faro in Portugal and Malaga in Spain from the airport, which is wholly owned by the Welsh Government.
A flight from Malaga is due to land at the airport at 9.55am, and will depart for the return trip to Spain at 10.20am. The flight from Faro is due to land at 7pm, and depart at 7.25pm.
It is the first phase of a planned return of commercial flights at the airport. The Welsh Government still has a legal five-mile restriction for nonessential travel in place and, as reported in yesterday’s Echo, said it had asked the airline to cancel the flights.
In response, the airline has confirmed the flights will now be going ahead as planned tomorrow and Saturday.
A spokesman yesterday said: “We are operating normally on July 3 and 4 with hundreds of Welsh people travelling home from countries with lower ‘R rates’ [the reproduction number which shows how prevalent coronavirus is in a community] – than the UK.”
From this week more than 1,000 flights per day will be operated by Ryanair, which has run a skeleton schedule since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It is restoring almost 90% of its route network but frequencies will be lower than normal, with just 40% of its normal July capacity.
Ryanair Group’s chief executive Michael O’Leary said: “We expect in July to carry more than 4.5 million customers, many of them families taking well earned Mediterranean holidays after the severe challenges of the Covid-19 lockdown, home schooling, etc.
“These 1,000 daily flights mark an important turning point for Ryanair and for the tourism industry of Europe, which supports so many jobs and small businesses.”
But the five-mile travel ban in Wales is not expected to be lifted until Monday, so anyone living more than five miles from the airport is effectively breaching the travel rule if they are going to or coming from the airport.
Yesterday, a Welsh Government spokesman said: “We don’t believe these flights should be going ahead and we have written to Ryanair to ask them to postpone.”
Speaking at the Welsh Government’s daily briefing in Cardiff, Economy Minister Ken Skates said they would have “preferred” Ryanair to postpone the flights, but they want to strengthen their relationship with the airline in the future.
He said he was aware that a huge proportion of these tickets were sold up to 12 months ago, but that there may be some people travelling on compassionate grounds which was permitted.
The minister said the Welsh Government did not know how many passengers would actually turn up at the airport, though they estimated “a vast proportion” would not go there.
He urged people to take individual responsibility when considering whether they should travel abroad.
People are required to “stay local” in Wales and not to travel further than five miles unless they have a reasonable excuse, to try to slow the spread of coronavirus.
According to the Welsh Government, it’s a matter for the independent management team at Cardiff Airport to make decisions about commercial operations there.
All commercial flights were halted in March, but to comply with Civil Aviation Authority regulations, the airport has remained in an operational mode.
Some freight traffic, including flights bringing in supplies of personal protective equipment, has been operating.
Airport bosses said in a statement: “Cardiff Airport has remained open throughout the pandemic to support essential flying including critical cargo and medical flights. During July our airlines will slowly restart flying passenger services, increasing in August. All airlines are making decisions about reinstating flights on a global basis and
the situation remains fluid.
“We continue to follow government guidance and work closely with Public Health Wales to keep the safety of our team and customers as our number one priority.”
Airlines Vueling, Balkan and Eastern Airways will implement a gradual return of flights at Cardiff Airport this month.
In August, Tui and KLM are also planning a return. Qatar Airways is looking at a return in October.
When asked about the future of Cardiff Airport yesterday, Mr Skates said it did not carry anywhere near the level of debt that many others did across the UK.
He added it was not in “as precarious a position” as a significant number of other UK regional airports.
But he said that as coronavirus had resulted in an unprecedented impact on all of these airports, a strategy was required from the UK Government, as well as a package of support, to make sure the connectivity they provided was not lost.
Meanwhile, rules on quarantine are still unchanged.
All travellers entering Wales from overseas will need to self-isolate for 14 days when they return.
But it yesterday emerged that passengers from Spain and Portugal who arrive at Cardiff Airport from tomorrow will just be getting an email if they need to self isolate.
Public Health Wales confirmed there will not be any staff there to meet passengers.
A spokesman said: “Public Health Wales staff will not be at the airport, but all returning passengers who meet the criteria for self-isolation will receive an email from Public Health Wales advising them of the need to self-isolate.”
In a separate development, following news that Airbus could cut up to 1,700 jobs in Wales, Mr Skates urged the UK Government to take “decisive action” to support the company and the wider aerospace industry.
The industry has been ravaged by the economic impact of the pandemic, due to the resulting restrictions on global travel.
Mr Skates said there will be a huge number of Airbus workers who are “extremely concerned” over the potential losses.
“My thoughts are with them and their families and their communities,” he added.
He said more information will be available today about which sites will face the losses, but it’s expected a significant share will come from Airbus’ North Wales plant in Broughton.
Airbus employs around 6,000 highly skilled people at the Flintshire site, he said, with more than double that amount involved in the local supply chain.
It is vital that Chancellor Rishi Sunak “takes the lead” to help bring forward “a comprehensive support package”, Mr Skates said.
He urged the UK Government to help safeguard the sector and the livelihoods of those it employs by temporarily removing air passenger duty and incentivising companies to carry out maintenance and repair work in the UK.
The Economy Minister also called for a shorter working week to be brought in as an “evolution” of the furlough scheme.
“This cannot and will not be the beginning of the end for Airbus at Broughton,” he said.
He said Airbus estimates loss of passenger revenue will cost the sector more than £300bn globally, and demand may take up to five years to return to pre-pandemic levels.
Welsh Secretary Simon Hart earlier said the UK Government has already given £10bn to the aerospace sector, as he insisted the Welsh Government also has a role to play in supporting it.
He told BBC Radio Wales: “I’m looking forward to hearing what the First Minister is going to do, what Ken Skates is going to do, and what their role is in this rather than complain about the UK.”
The news comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled on Tuesday the UK Government’s plans to soften the economic impact of coronavirus.
The Prime Minister made a promise to “build, build, build” on the back of the outbreak, but Health Minister Vaughan Gething said the apparent spending spree will not lead to a “single penny” of new investment for Wales.
He said the “new deal” was nothing more than recycling money found by “looking down the back of departmental sofas”.
“It’s a classic challenge of unpicking the rhetoric from the reality,” Mr Gething said.
“I know he’s been presenting it as a ‘new deal,’ but it’s not so much new deal as no deal.”