Ryanair will not cancel flights despite 'rubbish' UK quarantine

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said that the airline will not cancel flights to and from the United Kingdom despite the government’s measure to implement a 14-day quarantine for international travellers.

According to Reuters, when asked whether Ryanair would cancel July and August flights if the quarantine remained in place during those months, O’Leary said: “No, because the flights are full outbound of the UK. British people are ignoring this quarantine, they know it’s rubbish.”

“Ryanair is operating a thousand daily flights to points all over Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece from the 1st of July, the 2nd, the 3rd and every day after that.”

The government said that the new rules that will require travelers to self-isolate come into effect on Monday. The breach of the quarantine could result in a hefty £1,000 fine.

The measure will be reviewed every three weeks and there is talks of “travel corridors” between two countries to avoid the quarantine.

Airlines such as Ryanair, British Airways and easyJet threatened legal action against the measures as they see it as a draconian move that will cripple the tourism industry in the country.

The three airlines have sent a “pre-action protocol letter”, which can be followed by legal action, to denounce the quarantine plan as “wholly unjustified and disproportionate”.