RYANAIR UPDATE – 15.00HRS TUE 20 APRIL
(A)Southbound flights from Spain, Southern Italy, Malta and Morocco continue as normal.
(B) Southbound fights from South of France (Marseille) to resume Wednesday 21st April.
(C)Extra flights from Madrid to Canary Islands scheduled for Wed 21st April and Thursday 22nd April to move passengers from Canaries to Mainland.
(D)Flights cancellations in Northern Europe extended from 1300hrs Wed 21st April to 1300hrs Thur 22nd April.
(E) Flights between Ireland and UK cancelled until 1300hrs Fri 23rd April to allow for extra flights from Ireland to Continental Europe; and from UK to Continental Europe on Thursday 22nd April.
(F) Revised handling procedures notified to all airports to eliminate a backlog of passengers as soon as normal flight schedules resume.
Ryanair today (Tue 20th April) at 1500hrs confirmed that based on current meteorological forecasts and the continuing emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere over Iceland, it continues to operate Southbound flights from Spain, Southern Italy, Malta and Morocco as scheduled. From tomorrow Wed 21st April, Ryanair expects to resume southbound flights from its Marseille base in the South of France as well. Passengers holding reservations on these flights at these airports should continue to present themselves at these airports as normal.
Ryanair has today (20 Apr) extended its cancellation of its Northern European flights (UK, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Holland, France, Germany, Poland, Baltic States and North Italy) from 1300hrs on Wed 21st April to 1300hrs on Thurs 22nd April. In addition, Ryanair has decided to cancel all of its flights between Ireland and the UK until 1300hrs on Friday 23rd April in order to use these UK and Irish based aircraft to operate extra flights from the UK to Continental Europe; and from Ireland to Continental Europe from 1300hrs on Thurs 22nd April to clear any backlog of disrupted passengers travelling between Continental Europe, the UK and Ireland.
Ryanair is announcing these decisions in order to give intending passengers as much notice as possible of the likely developments in European airspace over the coming two/three days.
Speaking on Tuesday, Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:
“Our latest analysis of meteorological forecasts and the volcanic ash clouds suggests that the situation across Northern Europe remains unchanged. Ryanair continues to operate scheduled flights in Spain, Southern Italy, Malta and Morocco, and this will continue during Wed and Thurs. We are also going to operate a number of extra flights between Madrid and the four Canary Islands (Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife) on Wed and Thurs to allow disrupted passengers the choice to return to Mainland Europe from the Canary Islands where they may continue their return journeys at their own discretion and expense.
We remain hopeful that changing winds and a better analysis of the extent of these volcanic ash clouds will allow Ryanair to operate a substantial proportion of our scheduled flight operations in Northern Europe from 1300hrs on Thurs. We have decided to cancel our scheduled operations between Ireland and the UK until 1300hrs on Friday, since most passengers travelling between Ireland and the UK can switch to coach and ferry alternatives, and this will allow us to reallocate these aircraft to operate extra flights between the UK and Continental Europe, and between Ireland and Continental Europe from 1300hrs on Thurs until 1300hrs on Friday, to try to clear any backlog of disrupted passengers between the UK and Europe and between Ireland and Europe.
We presently hope to resume our full scheduled flight operations (subject only to ATC restrictions and weather forecasts) by 1300hrs on Friday 23rd April and we have issued instructions to all of our airports that our immediate priority will be to ensure that no seat operates empty, while there are backlogs of disrupted passengers wishing to travel. Accordingly Ryanair will be operating extra flights on those routes where we believe there are significant numbers of disrupted passengers. Ryanair will also be suspending all airport check-in and baggage fees during the initial days so that our handling agents can prioritise getting flights out on time and processing standby passenger lists. Similarly, while we will consider all passenger requests for reimbursement of reasonable receipted expenses over the past week, any such reimbursement will be limited to the original air fare paid by each passenger.
I again wish to apologise sincerely to all Ryanair passengers for the disruptions they have suffered over the past seven days, and to assure them that we are working around the clock to provide them with as much information as we can, as early as we can, in order to minimise the disruptions and inconvenience they are suffering. We continue to prioritise the safety of our passengers, crews and aircraft both prior to and following their return to service. Ryanair hopes to operate a number of test flights across Europe late tomorrow (Wed 21st Apr) in order to verify and satisfy ourselves that it is safe to resume flight operations in Northern Europe on Thursday.
As always all up to date information in Ryanair’s possession is communicated on our website and I urge all passengers to continue to monitor www.ryanair.com for details of extra flights and the resumption of scheduled services on their particular routes.”