Ryanair boss slams quarantine proposals

Plans to impose a 14-day quarantine on international travellers arriving in the UK are “idiotic” and “unimplementable”, the chief executive of airline Ryanair has said.

Michael O’Leary claimed the proposals have “no medical or scientific basis”, and instead said face masks would “eliminate” the risk of spreading coronavirus.

Ryanair announced last week that it will operate nearly 1,000 flights per day from July 1 subject to European countries lifting flight restrictions and “effective public health measures” being put in place at airports.

Ministers have said international travellers will be asked to quarantine for 14 days when they enter the UK, either in accommodation of their choice or provided by the government if there are no other options.

An implementation date has not yet been announced.

Mr O’Leary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s laughable that this government can come up with any plans for a quarantine that will be strict and fully enforced when already they are exempting the Irish, the French...

“It is idiotic and it’s unimplementable. You don’t have enough police in the UK to implement a two-week lockdown.

“And what’s really worrying is that a two-week lockdown has no medical or scientific basis to it in any event. If you really want to do something that’s effective – wear masks.”

Downing Street insisted there had never been an exemption for France, but said there would be an exemption for Ireland as part of the common travel area.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden earlier suggested the government would legally enforce the quarantine rules, and said exemptions would be “very limited”.

Ryanair said it expects passenger numbers to almost halve in the current financial year as it warns that it faces a “difficult” year ahead following the impact of coronavirus.

It came as the company reported a 13% increase in profits to €1 billion (£890 million) for the year ending in March, but expects to deliver significant losses in the current quarter.

The discount airliner said it saw an increase in passengers for the full year but has so far operated less than 1% of its scheduled flights since the start of April.

It also told investors that it has sufficient funds to “weather Covid-19 and emerge stronger when the crisis passes”.

Ryanair is currently in the midst of consultations over base closures, up to 3,000 job cuts – mainly affecting pilots and cabin crew – and pay cuts as it looks to keep its costs low in the face of coronavirus.

The Irish carrier said it nevertheless expects to post a loss of more than €200m (£178m) for the quarter to the end of June. It said it expects this to be followed by a smaller loss in the second quarter.