No-frills carrier says it will resume flights from June 15

Budget airline easyJet says it will resume flights on June 15.

Prior to the COVID-19 lockdown which grounded all fleets across the globe, the carrier operated 86 routes out of Manchester Airport, and 31 from Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

Among the first routes to resume will be flights from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Belfast and the Isle of Man.

The carrier’s plans to re-start flights will be a fortnight ahead of its main rival, Ryanair, which plans to resume around 40% of its operations from July 1.

A small number of easyJet flights will re-start on routes where it believes there is sufficient customer demand to support profitable flying.

The initial schedule will comprise mainly domestic flying in the UK and France.

Further routes will be announced over the coming weeks as customer demand increases and lockdown measures across Europe are relaxed.

The carrier said it will continue to refine its schedule planning and its capacity expectations for the remainder of 2020, which will be confirmed in due course, while also continuing its focus on minimising cash burn.

Alongside the resumption of services, easyJet has announced a range of new measures to help ensure the health and wellbeing of both customers and crew onboard. These include:

  • Customers, cabin and ground crew will be required to wear masks
  • Enhanced cleaning and disinfection of easyJet aircraft
  • Availability of disinfectant wipes and hand sanitiser onboard
  • Initially, no onboard food service

The measures have been implemented in consultation with aviation authorities ICAO and EASA, and in line with government and medical advice.

The carrier said it will also continue to promote its easyJet mobile app, which avoids paper boarding passes, and work closely with its partner airports to ensure all measures recommended by local and European authorities are implemented.

Chief executive Johan Lundgren said: “I am really pleased that we will be returning to flying in the middle of June.

“These are small and carefully planned steps that we are taking to gradually resume operations.

“We will continue to closely monitor the situation across Europe so that when more restrictions are lifted the schedule will continue to build over time to match demand, while also ensuring we are operating efficiently and on routes that our customers want.”

He added: “The safety and wellbeing of our customers remains our highest priority, which is why we are implementing a number of measures to enhance safety at each part of the journey, from disinfecting the aircraft to requiring customers and crew to wear masks.

“These measures will remain in place for as long as is needed to ensure customers and crew are able to fly safely as the world continues to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.”

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