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Ryanair travel advice for holidaymakers with flights booked for July, August and September
Ryanair is a popular airline of choice for British travellers heading off on their summer holidays. However, with coronavirus bringing travel to a standstill, holiday plans have been thrown into chaos. What is the latest travel advice for holidaymakers with Ryanair flights booked through to September?
Minimum flight links have remained open for emergency reasons but the overwhelming majority of aircraft have been grounded.
At the end of April, this was extended until Thursday May 14.
However, in Ryanair’s most recent update – issued Friday May 1 although not published to its website – the airline revealed flights would not be returning to normal until after June.
They also anticipate a dramatic reduction in the number of plane passengers.
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“Due to Continent-wide EU Government flight restrictions, Ryanair expects to operate less than one percent of its scheduled flying program in Apr, May & June 2020,” said the airline in a statement.
“Q1 traffic of fewer than 150,000 passengers will be 99.5 percent behind the Q1 budget of 42.4m passengers.
“While some return to flight services is expected in the second (July-September) quarter, Ryanair expects to carry no more than 50 percent of its original traffic target of 44.6m in Q2.
“For the full year ended March 2021, Ryanair now expects to carry less than 100m passengers, more than 35 percent below its original 154m target.”
What’s more, under new plans, up to 3,000 Ryanair pilots and cabin crew are set to lose their jobs. Pay cuts of up to 20 percent and unpaid leave will also be introduced.
Frustratingly, it is not known what Ryanair’s schedule will look like beyond June.
However, the airline explains that anyone whose flight has been cancelled will have been notified.
Ryanair states on its website: “If your flight has been cancelled you have been notified by email and SMS and given the option to request a refund, rebook or re-route your journey and avail of reasonable care, as applicable.
“Otherwise, your flight is operating as normal.”
For Ryanair passengers hoping to get refunds, CEO Michael O’Leary confirmed on Friday it could take as long as six months for customers to get their money back because of the surge in refund requests the coronavirus pandemic caused.
In their latest refund update, Ryanair has said vouchers and free changes to other flights are being issued for cancelled flights. However, those who wish for a cash refund will only receive it “once this crisis has passed.”
Ryanair passengers will be able to exchange vouchers for cash after a 12 month period if they have not redeemed them in this time.
Express.co.uk has contacted Ryanair for further comment.
Published at Mon, 04 May 2020 20:07:00 +0000
