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Ryanair threatens to chop 1,000 summer flights
Ryanair is to axe up to 1,000 planned flights between the UK and Ireland during August and September.
It blamed the move on Ireland’s obligatory 14-day quarantine requirement for all EU visitors.
Ryanair said axing the flights would lead to the loss of more than 100,000 British visitors to Ireland over the summer.
Ireland accounts for less than 8% of Ryanair’s traffic, but the airline slammed the Irish government for maintaining a blanket restriction on all EU arrivals.
"Last week when the UK and Northern Ireland removed travel restrictions on short haul flights to/from the European Union, Ireland became the only country in the EU with a blanket 14 day quarantine restriction on all arrivals from EU countries, most of which have lower Covid case rates than Ireland," the airline said.
"It makes no sense, when governments all over Europe have opened up EU flights since 1 June and removed travel restrictions on intra-EU travel, that the Irish Govt continues to treat countries like Germany, Denmark and Greece as if they were suffering similar levels of Covid as the USA, Brazil and India.
"Irish citizens are being advised by their government that they should not travel to and from EU countries, yet citizens of Northern Ireland can travel freely to and from the EU – via Dublin Airport – without any quarantine restrictions whatsoever."
Ryanair said the quarantine was damaging Ireland’s recover and called on the Irish government to remove all travel restrictions between Ireland and the EU.
By Linsey McNeill, Editor (UK)
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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