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(Alliance News) - Ryanair Holdings PLC on Monday said it is reducing its short haul flight programme - mainly to and from Italy - in response to the covid-19 virus.
The Irish budget airline said it intends to cancel up to 25% of its Italian flights for a three-week period from March 17 to April 8.
Over the past week, Ryanair said it has seen a "significant" drop in bookings over that late March and early April period amid coronavirus concerns. There has also been a step up in passenger no-shows on flights, particularly from and within Italy, Ryanair noted.
Looking ahead, the airline said it does not expect these cancellations to hurt its performance in its current financial year, ending March 31, but noted that it is too early to speculate about the impact of coronavirus outbreak on financial 2021.
Ryanair said it will continue to monitor bookings carefully, and will continue to flex its schedules in response to this developing situation.
"We will make sensible cuts to our schedules over the comings weeks to reflect weaker bookings, and changing travel patterns. All affected customers will be advised of any schedule changes at least 14 days in advance," said Chief Executive Michael O'Leary.
He added: "Our focus at this time is on minimising any risk to our people and our passengers."
On Friday last week, another budget airline easyJet PLC warned the coronavirus outbreak has resulted in "significant" softening of demand and load factors into and out of its northern Italian bases.
British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group SA also warned on demand due to the spread of coronavirus. In its annual results, IAG said it is currently experiencing demand weakness on Asian and European routes and a weakening of business travel across its network due to cancellation of industry events and corporate travel restriction.
By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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