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10

2020 Heathrow Airport Past Quarter Was ‘The Most

29th, Challenging In Ryanair’s

July Operator Demands 35-Year History’

| End To ‘Quarantine
EXAMINER

IRISH Roulette’ be nothing more than a cam-
he
operator
of
in the UK from there spend 14
Heathrow airport has days in quarantine. paign slogan.”
Turged the UK govern- Heathrow’s passenger One idea floated is for pas-
ment to stop imposing “quar- numbers were down 96% year sengers to be tested on arrival
antine roulette” on travelers on year between April and before being tested again a
as it announced a pre-tax loss June. number of days later to con-
of £1.1 billion (€1.2 billion) in It made a pre-tax loss of firm they are not infected with
the first six months of the £1.1 billion in the first six the virus. A second test could Ryanair suffered the “most challenging” quarter in its 35-
year. months of 2020, down from a allow their quarantine to be year history as it reported a loss of €185 million.
Chief executive John £7 million profit in the same shortened under the proposal. The low-cost airline, like its competitors, was forced to
Holland-Kaye said the finan- period a year ago. Government advisers have
cial results “should serve as a This came on revenue of warned it can take a number ground its fleet as Covid-19 wreaked havoc on timetables
clarion call” to ministers to £712 million, around half of of days from infection before with travel bans and lockdowns introduced worldwide.
introduce a scheme for coron- 2019’s levels. tests return a positive result, It said a second wave of the disease was now its “biggest
avirus testing of arriving pas- Mr Holland-Kaye said: meaning testing negative on fear”.
sengers. “Today’s results should serve arrival does not mean the pas- Restrictions saw the company carry 500,000 passengers
He wants the 14-day self- as a clarion call for the senger will not develop symp- in the first quarter compared with 41.9 million in the same
isolation requirement to be Government – the UK needs a toms later on. period last year, while revenue collapsed from €2.3 billion
eased for people arriving from passenger testing regime and But Public Health England to €125 million.
countries not on the fast. Without it, Britain is just and the Department of Health The company said: “The past quarter was the most chal-
Government’s exemption list playing a game of quarantine and Social Care are believed lenging in Ryanair’s 35-year history.
if they test negative for the roulette. to have spoken with travel “Covid-19 grounded the group’s fleet for almost four
virus. “As many of our customers assistance company Collinson months (from mid-March to end June) as EU governments
It comes after Boris have experienced, it’s difficult to understand the proposed imposed flight or travel bans and widespread population
Johnson warned that further to plan a holiday that way, let testing pilot it is developing lockdowns.
European nations could lose alone run a business. with Heathrow. “During this time, group airlines repatriated customers
their exempted status amid “Testing offers a way to Preliminary modelling and operated rescue flights for different EU governments,
signs of a “second wave” of safely open up travel and trade from the London School of as well as flying a series of medical emergency/PPE flights
Covid-19. to some of the UK’s biggest Hygiene and Tropical
The Prime Minister trig- markets which currently Medicine suggested 94% of across Europe.”
gered a diplomatic row with remain closed. cases would be detected if Flights were resumed on July 1, and the company said it
Spain by reimposing a warn- “Our European competi- the quarantine period was aimed to operate around 40 per cent of its normal July
ing against all but essential tors are racing ahead with pas- cut to eight days and passen- schedule, increasing to 60 per cent in August and 70 per
travel to the country and senger testing. If the UK does- gers tested negative on the cent in September.
insisting that travelers arriving n’t act soon global Britain will seventh. C Ryanair Holdings plc said it expected air travel to be
depressed in Europe for the next two to three years, adding:
“This will create opportunities for Ryanair to grow its net-
work, and expand its fleet, to take advantage of lower air-
port and aircraft cost opportunities that will inevitably
arise.”
It added that it could not provide any guidance for prof-
its in this financial year, but added that it expected to carry
60 million passengers this year.
It said: “FY21 will be a very challenging year for the
Ryanair Group of airlines.
“It is impossible to predict how long the Covid-19 pan-
“Our European demic will persist, and a second wave of Covid-19 cases

competitors are racing across Europe in late autumn (when the annual flu season
commences) is our biggest fear right now.
“Hopefully EU governments, by implementing effective
ahead with passenger track and tracing systems, and EU citizens by complying

testing. If the UK doesn’t with recommended face masks, rigorous hand hygiene and
other measures, will avoid the need for further lockdowns
act soon global Britain or restrictions on intra-EU flights.
“It is vital that European economies begin the process of
will be nothing more than recovery this summer to minimize the damage arising from
the Covid-19 pandemic and this recovery can only be led by
a campaign slogan.” intra-EU air travel which is the engine of EU growth and
economic activity.” C