Irish budget pilot Ryanair expects to transport fewer passengers this financial year due to the new lockdowns in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Starting January 21, Ryanair will drastically reduce the number of scheduled flights to and from the two countries.
The airline expects to transport less than 30 million passengers, about 5 million fewer than previously estimated. Ryanair’s financial year will run until March 31. Ryanair expects less than 1.25 million people to fly with the airline in January. In 2019 Ryanair transported a record number of 152.4 million passengers.
The UK and Irish measures “will result in little or no flights to and from Ireland or the UK from the end of January until these draconian travel restrictions are lifted,” Ryanair said in a statement Thursday. According to the airline, the reduction in the number of flights will not have a significant impact on the net loss for the financial year.
It became clear on Tuesday that several airlines are further reducing the number of scheduled flights to the United Kingdom due to the new lockdown in the country. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that Monday evening due to the high number of coronavirus infections.
Scotland had already preceded England earlier in the day, and Wales and Northern Ireland also indicated that they were looking for further measures.
English