The schedules of all airlines in Ryanair Holdings have been cut by more than 80% and expects almost all aircraft to be grounded from Tuesday 24 March. ITTN understands that the problem faced by people who had checked-in for a flight not being able to ‘check themselves out’ online in order to change their flight or claim a refund has now been resolved – although the ability to contact the airline to do so remains a problem.
A statement by Ryanair said: Over the past few days, the spread of the Covid-19 virus has led most EU Governments to impose severe travel bans and restrictions, which have had a negative impact on the schedules of all Ryanair airlines, causing widespread cancellations and travel disruptions across the network.
We advise customers considering travel that all Government travel restrictions must be followed. The situation changes on a daily basis, and we encourage customers to check relevant local guidelines issued by their Government before they travel, and our Travel Advisory page for more information on country-specific restrictions.
Our flight schedules have been hugely disrupted by these Government restrictions and will be subject to further cuts:
- From 24.00 on Wednesday 18 March until 24.00 on Tuesday 24 March, Ryanair Group Airlines will cut flight schedules by over 80%. All affected customers will receive an email to advise them of their options and we kindly ask customers not to call us as our call centres are overloaded dealing with customer queries.
- From 24.00 on Tuesday 24 March we expect that most if not all Ryanair Group flights will be grounded, except for a very small number of flights to maintain essential connectivity, mostly between the UK and Ireland. Details of these severely reduced schedules can be found on the Travel Advisory page on the Ryanair.com website, which will be updated regularly.
Ryanair will continue to stay in close contact with the Foreign Ministries of all EU Governments on the repatriation of EU citizens, and where possible we may operate rescue flights to support this repatriation.
Ryanair sincerely regrets all disruptions caused by this unprecedented Covid-19 crisis. The safety and well-being of our people and customers is our main priority and we will continue to comply with all WHO and EASA guidelines, as well as all Government travel restrictions that have been imposed over recent days to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
All our thoughts and prayers are with our people and our customers and their families as we work our way through this crisis.
