BA and Ryanair scale back flights as demand takes a nosedive

British Airways and Ryanair have announced flight cancellations in response to a drop in demand and a rise in no-shows due to the continuing coronavirus situation.

BA is ‘merging’ a number of flights between March 16 and March 28 and said it is currently contacting customers.

They will be offered the chance to rebook onto other carriers where possible, get full refunds or book with BA for a later date.

The cancelled flights include 12 roundtrips from Heathrow to JFK and 171 short-haul roundtrip flights from Heathrow to countries including Italy, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, all between March 17 and March 28.

Around the same period, it is also cancelling seven short-haul roundtrip flights from Gatwick to Italy, France and Albania and 26 short-haul roundtrip flights from London City (CityFlyer) to Germany and Italy.

To put the cancellations into perspective, BA pointed out that operates up to 10 roundtrips a day to JFK and has additional services on its codeshare partner American Airlines.

But its announcement, quickly picked up by the mainstream media, will do little to calm fears among potential travellers.

Meanwhile, Ryanair is cutting its short haul flight programme, mainly to and from Italy, by up to 25% for a three-week period from March 17 to April 8.

It said over the past week, it has seen a significant drop in bookings over that late March/early April period in response to the Covid-19 virus.

"There has also been a significant step up in passenger no-shows on flights, particularly from and within Italy," it said.

"Ryanair does not expect these cancellations to have a material impact on current year (end March 2020) guidance, but it is far too early to speculate what impact the Covid-19 outbreak will have on 2021 earnings," it said.

"Ryanair will continue to monitor bookings carefully, and will continue to flex its schedules in response to this developing situation. Ryanair is working closely with relevant authorities and is following all guidelines provided by WHO and EASA to ensure the health and wellbeing of our people and our customers."

Ryanair is now holding daily Covid-19 action meetings to discuss action, which includes cutting more flight as booking patterns alter, allocating annual leave and/or unpaid leave to pilots and cabin crew, plus recruitment and pay freezes.

"This is a time for calm," said chief Michael O’Leary.

"We will make sensible cuts to our schedules over the comings weeks to reflect weaker bookings, and changing travel patterns. All affected customers will be advised of any schedule changes at least 14 days in advance. While 80% of people who contract Covid-19 suffer only mild symptoms, the risk of infection can be significantly reduced by frequent hand washing with soap and water."

EasyJet has already announced plans to cut schedules and to take other cost-cutting measures due to a significant softening of demand.