Restrictions force flight cut-backs by Ryanair

RYANAIR is grounding a fifth of its flights for the next two months after bookings dived on the back of new coronavirus travel restrictions.

The budget airline will make the reductions for September and October after forward bookings “notably weakened”.

The drop-off over the past 10 days was driven by “uncertainty over recent Covid case rates in some EU countries”, it claimed.

The changes involve flights to and from countries such as Spain, France and Sweden.

A Ryanair spokesman said: “These capacity cuts are unavoidable.

“Affected passengers in September received emails notification advising them of their options. Similar communications will be issued to the small number affected in October.

Affected

“Over the past two weeks, as a number of EU countries have raised restrictions, bookings, especially for business travel into September and October, have been negatively affected.

“It makes sense to tailor our capacity to demand.”

Ryanair also said it was reacting to Ireland’s Green List advice, which includes 14-day isolation for visitors from most EU countries.

The announcement came as budget airline Jet2 confirmed plans to axe more than 100 pilots.

Cuts will come at most of its crew bases in Belfast International, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham.

A Jet2 spokesman said: “We are greatly distressed and deeply regret these redundancies.”