Ryanair to cut flight capacity after coronavirus upsurge hits bookings
Ryanair today said it will cut its flight capacity 20 per cent during September and October after increased coronavirus restrictions hit bookings.
The budget airliner said a recent upswing in coronavirus cases in some European countries had particularly hit business bookings.
Ryanair last month cut its passenger target to 60m for the financial year to March 2021, from the 80m it had forecast in May.
Ryanair shares, which had rallied in recent sessions to their highest since early June, fell 4.4 per cent to €11.04.
The airline said cuts will be heavily focused on France, Spain Ireland and Sweden, and would mostly involve frequency reductions rather than route closures. It had increased flights to 60 per cent of its normal schedule this month after resuming services in July.
Europe’s biggest budget airline said last month it expected to run around 70 per cent of last year’s schedule between October and March.
Increased travel restrictions have hit air traffic to Spain and France in recent weeks, while Ireland only allows unencumbered travel to 10 European countries, a policy Ryanair criticised again as “uniquely restrictive” on Monday.
The UK has also reintroduced quarantine restrictions on travellers returning from France and Spain after an upsurge in coronavirus cases in those countries.
Passengers travelling to the UK from France and the Netherlands now have to quarantine for 14 days after a surge in cases in the countries.
They follow Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg in being removed from the authorities’ “green list” of countries exempt from such restrictions.
Ryanair said impacted passengers will be advised of their options.