New satellite images reveal the boom in air travel over Europe today as hundreds of planes take to the skies in response to loosening coronavirus restrictions.
Live data recorded more than a thousand planes over the continent this afternoon – compared with just a few hundred at the height of the pandemic in April.
It came as passengers flocked to airports across Europe, including London Gatwick, Brussels and Duesseldorf, where they were met by staff informing them about the latest safety measures.
Meanwhile, easyJet began its first flights – starting with a morning service from Gatwick to Glasgow – with all customers required to wear masks and go without food and alcohol.
Countries including Germany and France have opened their borders, but Britain is still insisting on a 14-day quarantine for all arrivals, including those from countries with far lower infection rates.
Live data recorded more than a thousand planes over the Continent this afternoon – compared with just a few hundred at the height of the pandemic in April. The grab on the left was taken today at 12.38pm, and the second on the morning of April 8 at approximately 9am
Passengers at Brussels airport this morning, where people were wearing face masks to abide by new aviation safety requirements
Spain is allowing thousands of Germans to fly to the Balearic Islands from today in a trial run for resuming its tourist season, after Germany lifted its travel warning for the EU.
However, several countries including Greece are still excluding Britons because of the UK’s high death rate while Swedes are similarly unpopular in many countries.
Britons are allowed into Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy but not Greece, the Netherlands or Austria and will have to quarantine in France, and the Foreign Office is still advising against unnecessary travel.
In addition, most of the continent is still closed to visitors from Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Americas – although Greece is allowing some tourists from further afield.
France’s borders are open for travel within Europe, but Paris is insisting on reciprocity – meaning a 14-day quarantine for British visitors.
The French government has criticised the ‘uncoordinated fashion’ in which Britain imposed the quarantine after initially saying that France would be exempt.
At present, the UK Foreign Office is still advising Britons against ‘all non-essential international travel’ in any case.
Announcing Monday’s reopening of borders, French president Emmanuel Macron said it is time ‘to turn the page of the first act of the crisis’ and ‘rediscover our taste for freedom’.
But he warned: ‘This doesn’t mean the virus has disappeared and we can totally let down our guard… the summer of 2020 will be a summer unlike any other.’
Germany and Belgium among those opening their borders today in line with an EU directive to resume travel by mid-June.
All nine of Germany’s land borders are open and the country is allowing flights from Italy, but not Spain until June 21. Some flights to London have continued all along and UK travellers are not banned.
Germany and the Netherlands have both lifted their warnings against non-essential foreign travel in Europe, although Germany is advising against travelling further afield until at least August 31.
Austria has already opened its borders to most of its neighbours and will lift travel restrictions for 31 countries tomorrow, but not including the UK or Sweden.
German chancellor Angela Merkel and her Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz are both planning to holiday in their homelands this year.
The skies above Europe at 9am on March 2, 2020 – before most of Europe went into lockdown – and the same view at 9am on April 2
Brussels Airport: Flight attendants wearing face masks sanitise their hands inside a plane at Brussels Airport this morning
Germany: A TUI flight attendant gives safety instructions to German tourists on the first flight from Duesseldorf to Mallorca in a Spanish tourism pilot project
EasyJet took to the skies again today for the first time since its planes were grounded on March 30 – with passengers facing a raft of new coronavirus safety measures including mandatory face masks and an alcohol ban.
Pictures from the first flight this morning showed a crowded service with no room for people to observe six-feet social distancing rules, prompting some Twitter users to complain it was ‘absolute madness’.
However, the airline’s boss Johan Lundgren said he would feel ‘100% safe’ due to the steps it had taken to protect customers.
The plane, from London Gatwick to Glasgow, landed just after 8am, as easyJet resumed mainly domestic routes between British and European cities. There are two foreign routes from Belfast to Faro and Gatwick to Nice.
While borders across Europe are being opened, a hoped-for travel recovery in easyJet’s home market has been put at risk by a 14-day quarantine rule for arrivals. The airline has joined its rivals, British Airways and Ryanair, in a legal bid to have the new rules overturned.
EasyJet Chief executive Johan Lundgren said the Luton-based carrier has taken guidance from international regulators to develop an enhanced safety and hygiene regime for its resumption of flights on Monday.
Passengers and crew will be required to wear masks, aircraft will be regularly deep-cleaned and disinfection wipes and hand sanitiser will be made available.
EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic have banned alcohol on all flights to limit contact between passengers, while British Airways has suspended alcohol on short-haul trips.
EasyJet passengers will be limited to a glass of water, with food service also suspended.
Mr Lundgren said not operating a single flight in nearly three months has been ‘devastating’, and the airline is ‘super excited’ to resume.
He will travel on his first easyJet flight after the restart on Wednesday.
EasyJet’s first flight took off from London Gatwick at 6.53am and arrived just after 8am. Pictured are passengers being greeted onto the plane at Gatwick
Passengers wearing face masks walk across the runway at Gatwick this morning to board easyJet’s first flight to Glasgow
EasyJet takes to the skies for first time since March 30 as packed flight with no social-distancing leaves from Gatwick – but airline’s boss insists he would feel ‘100% safe’ now face masks are mandatory on board
EasyJet took to the skies again today for the first time since its planes were grounded on March 30 – with passengers facing a raft of new coronavirus safety measures including mandatory face masks and an alcohol ban.
Pictures from the first flight this morning showed a crowded service with no room for people to observe six-feet social distancing rules, prompting some Twitter users to complain it was ‘absolute madness’.
However, the airline’s boss Johan Lundgren said he would feel ‘100% safe’ due to the steps it had taken to protect customers.
The plane, from London Gatwick to Glasgow, landed just after 8am, as easyJet resumed mainly domestic routes between British and European cities. There are two foreign routes from Belfast to Faro and Gatwick to Nice.
While borders across Europe are being opened, a hoped-for travel recovery in easyJet’s home market has been put at risk by a 14-day quarantine rule for arrivals. The airline has joined its rivals, British Airways and Ryanair, in a legal bid to have the new rules overturned.
As Britain edged towards normality today:
- Secondary school pupils with GCSE and A-level exams next year returned to classes, although only a quarter could be on site at once due to social distancing;
- Millions of commuters returned to work on trains, Tubes and buses – watched by 3,000 extra police and transport staff enforcing compulsory face mask rules;
- Shoppers desperate to hit the high street formed huge socially distanced queues after dawn today as the majority of stores reopened;
- Britain’s coronavirus death toll inched up by just 36 yesterday – the lowest since before full lockdown in a promising signs the outbreak is improving;
- Families’ staycation plans are in chaos over a lack of safety advice that could sabotage the reopening of holiday sites in the first week of July;
- A decision on the two-metre rule will take ‘weeks’, ministers warned today – despite warnings of mass redundancies unless it is eased within days;
- World Health Organization director again warns the UK not to lift lockdown too fast until contact tracing system is ‘robust’ and ready to be ‘aggressively’ scaled up.
Pictures from first flight this morning, posted by Good Morning Britain’s Travel Expert Simon Calder, showed a fairly crowded service with no room for people to observe six-feet social distancing rules
Some Twitter users complained that the busy flight from Gatwick to Glasgow was ‘complete madness’ – but others said it was up to individuals to decide the level of risk they were willing to take as the economy opened up
One Twitter user predicted a ‘second wave’ of coronavirus cases. Advocates of the Government’s strategy would point to the need to boost a shattered economy
EasyJet Chief executive Johan Lundgren said the Luton-based carrier has taken guidance from international regulators to develop an enhanced safety and hygiene regime for its resumption of flights on Monday.
Passengers and crew will be required to wear masks, aircraft will be regularly deep-cleaned and disinfection wipes and hand sanitiser will be made available.
EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic have banned alcohol on all flights to limit contact between passengers, while British Airways has suspended alcohol on short-haul trips.
EasyJet passengers will be limited to a glass of water, with food service also suspended.
Mr Lundgren said not operating a single flight in nearly three months has been ‘devastating’, and the airline is ‘super excited’ to resume.
He will travel on his first easyJet flight after the restart on Wednesday.
With no revenues for months, airlines have been cutting costs to try to survive the coronavirus pandemic.
EasyJet said in May it was planning to cut 4,500 jobs, or 30% of its workforce. It has said Britain’s quarantine could lead to even more cuts.
The airline is planning to ramp up services as the summer progresses and by August has said it will be flying about three-quarters of routes but at a much lower frequency than last year.
Capacity will be at about 30% of usual in the busy July to September season, easyJet said. Bigger rival Ryanair plans to be flying 40% of capacity by July.
EasyJet’s boss has insisted he would ‘feel 100% safe’ on packed planes thanks to new safety measures.
Passengers arrive at Belfast International Airport this morning after arriving on one of easyJet’s first flights of the coronavirus crisis
Captain David Morgan, Director of Flight Operations and Captain Kate McWilliams in the cockpit on easyJet’s first flight from Gatwick to Glasgow today
Passengers boarding easyJet flight EZY883 before it took off from Gatwick bound for Glasgow
Passengers begin to board a domestic flight from a UK airport this morning as the carrier begins to resume a limited service
Mr Lundgren said: ‘The recommendations that we’ve implemented have been defined together with international regulators Easa (European Aviation Safety Agency), ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation), the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) and also our own company’s medical doctors and expertise.’
The Airbus A321neo – easyJet’s largest aircraft – can seat 235 passengers.
Despite the 14-day quarantine policy and current travel restrictions imposed in the UK, Mr Lundgren said he believed summer holidays will be possible.
He went on: ‘We would hope and would be really looking forward to restrictions being either lifted, or air bridges put in place where it made sense to do so, allowing UK customers as well as people in the rest of Europe to be able to go on a holiday.’
Air bridges would involve travellers arriving from countries where the risk of being infected by coronavirus is deemed to be low to avoid having to self-isolate for 14 days.
EasyJet’s initial schedule will involve mainly domestic flying in the UK and France.
EasyJet announced plans to cut up to 4,500 jobs as it does not expect demand to return to 2019 levels until 2023.
Ryanair intends to restore 40% of its flights from July 1, while British Airways is due to make a ‘meaningful return’ to service next month.
Chief executive Johan Lundgren said he would feel ‘100% safe’ travelling on an easyJet plane even if it was full
EasyJet restarted some flights today with new safety restrictions (file photo of easyJet planes)