EasyJet today declared it is ramping up flights as the government finalises a list of holiday destinations being exempted from quarantine rules.
The company will operate from 14 UK airports from July 1, covering around half the 1,000 routes it was flying before the coronavirus crisis erupted.
The news comes with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps set to unveil ‘air bridge’ deals with other countries in time for the quarantine rules to change on Monday.
France, Spain, Italy and Greece are believed to be nailed on to secure deals that will allow UK tourists to visit with insurance in place and not face 14-day isolation on their return.
However, there are signs that Portugal will be missed off the roll after a rise in infection cases recently.
From the start of next month, easyJet will run around 500 flights each day across Europe, including over 900 flights a week to and from the UK.
Easyjet will restart hundreds more international and domestic flights from July 1, as it also secured a major cash injection to bolster its finances in the face of the pandemic
‘Air bridges’ to France , Spain, Italy, and Greece have been all but confirmed, with the first flights set to take off on July 4
Britons began to arrive in Benidorm, Spain on Monday as coronavirus restrictions were eased amid the pandemic in Europe
Tourists take selfies in front of Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy on June 19 as travel restrictions were loosened after months of lockdown
On June 15, it restarted a ‘small number’ of flights for the first time since its aircraft were grounded in March.
However passengers on the airline’s first flight in three months were left furious when it become ‘impossible’ to maintain social distancing while the middle seat remained in use.
EasyJet said it plans to fly around half of its 1,022 routes in July, before increasing to around 75 per cent in August.
The announcement follows reports that air bridges will be available from next week to allow Britons to take holidays in other countries without quarantining for 14 days.
When the company restarted a small number of flights on June 15, passengers on the first flight were left furious when the middle seat were not left vacant, making social distancing ‘impossible’
Meetings are taking place between ministers today to finalise agreements allowing people to travel from the UK to a small number of countries. However, formal announcement are not expected for a few more days.
Currently there is a blanket requirement for all arrivals in the UK to quarantine for 14 days, making it impractical for many to travel.
As the Foreign Office currently advises against all non-essential travel, it is also difficult to get insurance for leisure trips.
Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Gibraltar and Bermuda will also reportedly be announced as destinations in the first round of ‘safe nations’ when the rules change on June 29.
Greek tourism minister Haris Theoharis said the country wanted British tourists to return when it opens to European holidaymakers on July 1.
‘The final decision, from the UK and our point of view, will be in place in the next few days and I’m hoping the announcement will be positive from both sides,’ said Mr Theoharis, who indicated conversations with the UK Government over so-called ‘air bridges’ were going well.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there was no need for those returning to the UK from Greece to be quarantined.
‘The point is that Greece is a safe country – we have proven that during this crisis and we will continue proving this in the exit stages of the health situation,’ said the Greek minister.
‘We feel that the risk of someone contracting the disease in Greece is much lower than most of the countries in Europe and indeed the rest of the world.’
Put to him that there was no point in the quarantine from those returning from Greece, Mr Theoharis replied: ‘Correct.’
Holidaymakers will be able to fly from 14 airports across the UK to a number of countries including France, Spain and Italy.
Safety measures will be ramped up, with passengers and pilots required to wear face masks, food service won’t be available, and intensive daily cabin cleaning
Robert Carey, esyJet chief commercial and strategy officer, said: ‘We are really pleased to be relaunching even more of our flights from 1 July and starting to get customers away on their much-needed summer holidays.
‘Of course, the safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew remains our highest priority.
‘This is why we have implemented a number of measures enhancing safety at each part of the journey from disinfecting the aircraft to requiring customers and crew to wear masks.’
It came as the budget airline raised £419million from investors to help it withstand the continuing impact of coronavirus.
The airline saw shares slip on Thursday morning after it revealed it secured the funding through a placing of 59.5million shares at 703p per share.
The company slid to a £353million pre-tax loss for the year to March, falling from a £272million loss for the same period a year earlier.
EasyJet said the share placing would shore up its finances after grounding all of its flights for 11 weeks as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Passenger numbers fell by 7.4 per cent, around three million people, in the year to March, as travel restrictions in February and March weighed on trading.
Last month, the airline announced plans to shed around 4,500 jobs from its workforce as part of cost-cutting efforts.
It also secured around £1.7 billion of additional funding, including around £600million from the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF).