Easyjet will resume flights from mid June, face masks will be mandatory

EasyJet has said it will resume some flights on 15 June, with all passengers and cabin crew told to wear face masks to protect against the coronavirus.

The airline announced that it would restart a “small number” of routes where there is enough customer demand.

The initial schedule will include domestic routes across the UK and France.

EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said that “these are small and carefully planned steps”.

From June, EasyJet will fly between UK airports including Gatwick, Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Belfast.

The airline told the BBC that from mid-June it would be running 189 flights per week on average.

The only international service from the UK will fly from Gatwick to Nice.

Elsewhere, some services will resume between Portugal, Switzerland and Spain.

Mr Lundgren said that further routes would be announced over the coming weeks “as customer demand increases and lockdown measures across Europe are relaxed”.

The firm grounded its entire fleet in March as global travel came to a near-halt.

When flights restart, no food will be available on board and customers will have hand sanitiser and disinfectant wipes provided.

EasyJet said that its aircraft would also be subject to “enhanced cleaning and disinfection“.

Mr Lundgren said: “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.”

EasyJet’s new rules were drawn up according to latest government advice and in consultation with aviation authorities such as the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

On Wednesday, EASA and the US Centre for Disease Prevention and Control issued a new set of health standards for airlines hoping to start flying again.

They recommend wearing face masks, physical distancing of 1.5m where possible in airports and washing hands often.

Meanwhile, London Heathrow Airport will start using thermal cameras to carry out temperature checks in a trial on some passengers from its Terminal 2 on Thursday.

EasyJet’s announcement followed the admission earlier this week that a “highly sophisticated cyber-attack” had affected about nine million of its customers.

List of restored Easyjet flights from 15th June 2020:

UK

• Belfast-Birmingham
• Belfast-Bristol
• Belfast-Edinburgh
• Belfast-Glasgow
• Belfast-London Gatwick
• Belfast-Liverpool
• Belfast-Newcastle
• Birmingham-Belfast
• Bristol-Belfast
• Edinburgh-Belfast
• Edinburgh-London Gatwick
• Glasgow-Belfast
• Glasgow-London Gatwick
• Inverness-London Gatwick
• Isle of Man-London Gatwick
• Isle of Man-Liverpool
• London Gatwick-Belfast
• London Gatwick-Edinburgh
• London Gatwick-Glasgow
• London Gatwick-Inverness
• London Gatwick-Isle of Man
• London Gatwick-Nice
• Liverpool-Belfast
• Liverpool-Isle of Man
• Newcastle-Belfast

France

• Bordeaux-Lyon
• Bordeaux-Nice
• Paris Charles de Gaulle-Nice
• Paris Charles de Gaulle-Toulouse
• Lille-Nice
• Lyon-Bordeaux
• Lyon-Nantes
• Nice-Bordeaux
• Nice-Paris Charles de Gaulle
• Nice-London Gatwick
• Nice-Lille
• Nice-Nantes
• Nice-Toulouse
• Nice-Geneva
• Nantes-Lyon
• Nantes-Nice
• Toulouse-Paris Charles de Gaulle
• Toulouse-Nice

Switzerland

• Geneva-Porto
• Geneva-Barcelona
• Geneva-Lisbon
• Geneva-Nice

Spain

• Barcelona-Geneva

Portugal

• Porto-Geneva
• Lisbon-Geneva