EasyJet has grounded its entire fleet of aircraft due to the coronavirus pandemic, the airline said.
The airline said this was done in the wake of "unprecedented" travel restrictions, while adding it was unclear when its commercial flights would resume.
EasyJet said in a statement: “As a result of the unprecedented travel restrictions imposed by governments in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the implementation of national lockdowns across many European countries, easyJet has, today, fully grounded its entire fleet of aircraft."
It added that repatriation or "rescue" flights may continue if requested, adding: “Over recent days easyJet has been helping to repatriate customers, having operated more than 650 rescue flights to date, returning home more than 45,000 customers. The last of these rescue flights were operated on Sunday March 29. We will continue to work with government bodies to operate additional rescue flights as requested."
On normality resuming, it added that this was unclear.
“At this stage there can be no certainty of the date for restarting commercial flights. We will continuously evaluate the situation based on regulations and demand, and will update the market when we have a view," the statement said.
The company has worked with union Unite to agree two-month furlough arrangements for cabin crew.
This means that crew will be paid 80 per cent of their average pay through the Government job retention scheme.
It insisted it “maintains a strong balance sheet” and revealed it is in “ongoing discussions with liquidity providers”.
The airline said this was done in the wake of "unprecedented" travel restrictions, while adding it was unclear when its commercial flights would resume.
EasyJet said in a statement: “As a result of the unprecedented travel restrictions imposed by governments in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the implementation of national lockdowns across many European countries, easyJet has, today, fully grounded its entire fleet of aircraft."
It added that repatriation or "rescue" flights may continue if requested, adding: “Over recent days easyJet has been helping to repatriate customers, having operated more than 650 rescue flights to date, returning home more than 45,000 customers. The last of these rescue flights were operated on Sunday March 29. We will continue to work with government bodies to operate additional rescue flights as requested."
On normality resuming, it added that this was unclear.
“At this stage there can be no certainty of the date for restarting commercial flights. We will continuously evaluate the situation based on regulations and demand, and will update the market when we have a view," the statement said.
The company has worked with union Unite to agree two-month furlough arrangements for cabin crew.
This means that crew will be paid 80 per cent of their average pay through the Government job retention scheme.
It insisted it “maintains a strong balance sheet” and revealed it is in “ongoing discussions with liquidity providers”.
Source