[ad_1]
Ryanair’s flight base at Cork airport will be closed if quarantine restrictions are maintained when traveling to EU countries this winter.
In a letter to Ryanair employees, CEO Eddie Wilson also warned that the airline’s Shannon base is also under threat of closure due to “mismanagement” of the Green List by the government.
In the event that the rules are closed, all affected Ryanair employees will receive a leave of absence without pay from the end of October.
The letter reads: “As you may well know, the Covid-19 crisis continues to seriously damage our passenger loads and operations. These challenges are compounded in Ireland, where government mismanagement of our Green List has kept many EU countries on a quarantine list, even though these countries, such as our main markets in the UK, Germany, Sweden and Poland, have lower Covid rates than Ireland.
“We are now facing a winter in Cork and Shannon with no outgoing business trips and very little inbound leisure traffic.
“Despite repeated calls from industry to the Government to add these lower Covid EU countries to Ireland’s Green List, they have ignored these requests, and our advance bookings this winter in Cork and Shannon, and less As measured in Dublin, they have suffered irreparable damage.
“The government has promised a review of the Green List restrictions next Monday, September 14, but you must bear in mind that if these quarantine restrictions of the EU states are not lifted before the end of September, we will have no more Alternative than to close our Cork and Shannon bases, temporarily for this winter season.
“Under these circumstances, all pilots and cabin crew will be on leave without pay from the end of October (you may be able to benefit from government support plans).
“We understand that the EU Commission will introduce a new travel policy for EU member states from mid-September, and we are hopeful but not confident that the Irish government will finally align itself with the safe air travel policy. from the EU, which allowed travel to restart across Europe as of July 1, while offering lower Covid rates than what our government and NPHET have here in Ireland.
“Sadly, Ireland did not follow these ECDC guidelines but continued to impose quarantines that failed to stop the recent surge in Covid cases.
“We will do everything possible to reopen these bases starting in March next year. yes, but only if these failed travel restrictions to other EU states have been lifted in time for traffic to recover. Ryanair will continue to operate flights to Cork and Shannon from bases elsewhere, such as London Stansted, Manchester and Liverpool, but the frequency of these flights will be significantly reduced during the winter season and as long as these flawed quarantine restrictions are maintained. .
“I appreciate that this will be a great shock and disappointment to all of you who have worked so hard since July to restore our flights and services, but bookings and loads remain weak and we cannot sustain flights from Cork and Shannon when the government ignores the EU safe travel policy and instead actively prohibits our customers from flying without 14 days of quarantine (except for Micheal Martin’s visits to Brussels, when he did not observe any quarantine).
“We will continue to try to persuade the Government to change its failed Green List quarantine than visitors from other EU countries such as the UK and Germany, who have lower Covid case rates than Ireland.
“If this is successful and the green list is updated, we are hopeful that this threat of winter closure of our Cork and Shannon bases can be averted, and we will keep you posted on developments.”
[ad_2]