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Coronavirus: airlines cutting flights in Europe

2020-03-03T11:57:40.055Z


The Covid-19 epidemic has hit tourism hard. British Airways will reduce its service to France. Ryanair cuts a quarter of its flights to Italy.


The dramatic increase in the number of cases linked to the coronavirus, in Italy in particular, is a severe blow to tourism and air traffic in Europe. Several weeks after having suspended their service to mainland China, airlines are now reducing their offer of flights to Italy and even Europe. Here are the measures taken by these companies as of March 3.

British Airways

In order to "adapt to the drop in demand due to the coronavirus", the British company announced on March 2 that it would cancel 200 long-haul flights between March 16 and 28.

Medium-haul flights are also affected, since 171 of them will be eliminated between its London airports (Heathrow, Gatwick and London-City) and Italy, France, Austria, Belgium, Ireland and Switzerland.

To read also - Coronavirus: the airlines which suspend their flights to China

Brussels Airlines

"The sharp drop in demand for air transport in Europe is pushing Brussels Airlines to review its offer of flights to and from Milan (Linate and Malpensa), Venice, Rome, Bologna and Turin between March 2 and 28", informs the Belgian company on its site.

For flights to and from Italy that are still scheduled, the company offers commercial measures: travelers with a ticket to or from these cities can postpone their trip to a later date (until April 30 2020) and / or change their destination to another in Europe.

easyJet

The British low-cost company plans to cancel 11% of its flights to Italy between March 13 and 31. It observes a "decline in demand and filling rates" from and to the airports in northern Italy.

»Read also - Coronavirus: how the actors of tourism in Italy adapt to the epidemic

Lufthansa

The German group, which owns Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Swiss, will reduce its offer of flights to and from the major cities of northern Italy, including Milan , Rome and Bologna . Its Austrian subsidiary Austrian Airlines should even cut “40% its offer” to Italy.

Faced with the drop in demand, Lufthansa announced at the end of February the hiring freeze. In addition, Lufthansa has extended the suspension of its flights to mainland China until April 24.

Ryanair

The Irish low-cost airline reduced its service to Italy by 25% between March 17 and April 8. "All the customers concerned were informed by e-mail and SMS and were able to request a refund, a new reservation or a new route for their trip," says the Ryanair website. The company observes a "significant increase" in the number of passengers not showing up for boarding, "mainly from and to Italy".

»Read also - Coronavirus: 3 questions to ask yourself before booking your next trip

SAS

"In response to the drop in demand, SAS will seek in the coming months to reduce part of the capacity of its short-haul network," said the Scandinavian company in a press release, without giving figures.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-03-03

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