Ryanair has announced this Tuesday that from July 1st it will resume 40% of its usual flight schedule. "These measures are subject to the lifting of flight restrictions within Europe by governments and the application of effective public health measures planned at airports," the company specifies.
Regarding the routes, its intention is to recover 90%, although with less frequency in each of them, having planned a total of about 1,000 daily flights, compared to the more than 2,000 it had before the start of the international health crisis due to Covid-19.
In a statement, Ryanair points out that in recent weeks it has continued to operate 30 daily flights between Ireland, the United Kingdom and Europe, but within a month and a half it hopes to fly again from most of its 80 European bases. "There will be fewer daily/weekly frequencies on the main routes, while the company continues to work to restore its services on as many routes as possible, instead of operating fewer connections, but with more frequencies," they explain.
Catering with restrictions and bathroom on request
Looking ahead to that return to activity, the airline has already begun to make recommendations to its passengers, such as reducing the number of checked bags, online check-in, downloading the boarding pass to the passenger's phone, as well as carrying out temperature controls at the airport entrance and the use of masks/face protection, both in the terminal and on board the aircraft.
"All Ryanair aircraft are equipped with HEPA air filters (similar to those used in hospital emergency rooms) and all interior surfaces of the aircraft are disinfected every night with chemicals, effective for more than 24 hours," they detail. Regarding personal measures, they state that "temperature controls and masks/face protection are the key to achieving a safe return to operations." Regarding the distance between passengers, they state that "social distancing will be encouraged on board aircraft whenever possible."
In addition, it details that the Ryanair cabin crew will wear masks/face protectors and during the flight a limited catering service will be offered with pre-packaged drinks and snacks, without accepting cash payments and all transactions on board being cashless. It will also be prohibited to queue to go to the bathroom on board, although access to the bathroom will be facilitated to passengers who request it individually.
As an additional temporary public health measure, and as the different countries of the European Union emerge from confinement due to Covid-19, Ryanair adds that "it will require all passengers flying in July and August to complete a form with the details (at the time of check-in) of the duration of their visit, as well as their address while visiting another country of the European Union, and this contact information will be provided to the governments of the European Union to help them monitor the isolation rules that they require of visitors from intra-community flights."
