Passengers stranded as Italy-UK fights are cancelled

HUNDREDS of flights between the UK and Italy have been cancelled due to the coronavirus, leaving some passengers stranded.

British Airways has suspended all flights to and from Italy until various future dates depending on the route.

Easy Jet has cancelled all flights touching Italy until April 4 but will operate “rescue flights” in the coming days to passengers who need to return home or whose travel is “essential”.

Ryanair said no flights will serve the country between Saturday and April 8.

British Airways refused refund requests to passengers booked on flights to Italian airports outside the north of the country until the Foreign and Commonwealth Office updated its travel advice on Monday night.

That means some passengers may have reluctantly travelled to Italy to avoid losing money and now face a struggle to get home.

One British passenger told the PA news agency she felt “dumped” by the airline after her flight from Rome to London was cancelled.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said she was seeking an “acknowledgement that they just stranded loads of passengers when they said they would get us home”.

The passenger went on: “Their website was down, their call centres are overloaded and we got an email after midnight saying our flight was cancelled. It’s putting more passengers in danger.”

She said she “had to fight” to secure a place on a Vueling flight.

Ryanair said passengers who need to fly home can switch to one of its flights which are operating up to and including Friday.

An airline spokesman said: “The situation is changing on a daily basis, and all passengers on flights affected by travel bans or cancellations are receiving emails and are being offered flight transfers, full refunds or travel credits.

“Ryanair apologises sincerely to all customers for these schedule disruptions, which are caused by national government restrictions and the latest decision of the Italian government to lock down the country to combat Covid-19.”

Ryanair reduced its passenger target for the 12 months to the end of March by three million to 154 million, but it does not expect this to have a “material impact” on profits.