EasyJet has said it is reducing its flying programme as a result of the national lockdown that came into force in England earlier this week but would maintain “essential connectivity between key cities in the UK”.
The airline said it would operate domestic services from London, Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Belfast and Scotland, alongside a small number of international routes.
The airline has called on those customers outside the UK who need to return to do so as soon as possible.
An easyJet spokesman told BTN Europe, “We will be operating flights up to and including 10 January focused on repatriating any customers who need to return to the UK. We urge customers needing to return to transfer onto these flights as soon as possible as options to travel after this date will be reduced.”
The airline said that those whose flights had been cancelled would be able to transfer their flights to a later date free of charge, or receive a voucher or a refund.
The spokesman said, “Given the ongoing impact of the pandemic on travel, we continue to call for sector specific support such as has been provided to hospitality, where decisions have directly affected their ability to trade. The same principle should be applied to aviation.”
He added: “It is clear that testing will continue to be important to keeping people moving when travel is possible and we continue to push for work to be done on the efficacy of rapid testing technologies like antigen and LAMP testing making it easier, less expensive and less onerous for customers.”
Ryanair has also said it is slashing flights to and from the UK and Ireland.