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(Adds Heathrow details)
By Kate Holton and Sarah Young
LONDON, June 8 (Reuters) - Ryanair will not cancel
British flights despite Monday's start of what the boss of
Europe's biggest budget airline called a "rubbish" 14-day
quarantine for international arrivals.
Ryanair, easyJet and BA-owner IAG have
threatened legal action over the quarantine, which they say will
cripple the British tourism industry.
Asked by BBC Radio whether Ryanair would cancel July and
August flights if the quarantine remained in place, group CEO
O'Leary said: "No, because the flights are full outbound of the
UK. British people are ignoring this quarantine, they know it's
rubbish."
The three airlines have sent a "pre-action protocol letter",
which can be followed by legal action, in the most vociferous
clash between the UK government and industry since the pandemic
began.
Airlines have warned it could deter British travelers, some
of the top spenders, from flying to Europe and prevent Europeans
from visiting cities such as London and Edinburgh and sites
including Stonehenge.
There were 41 million visits to the UK in 2019, according to
the national tourism agency, with visitors spending 28 billion
pounds ($36 billion) and supporting millions of jobs.
The head of London's Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest,
warned that millions of jobs could be lost if aviation does not
resume quickly.
The boss of easyJet said the industry could be left in
tatters, with more job cuts needed from his airline, too.
The quarantine is designed to prevent a second surge of
COVID-19 and in England a breach of the rules will be punishable
with a 1,000 pound fine.
It will be reviewed every three weeks and "air bridges" that
allow tourists to travel between two countries without needing
to quarantine are being discussed with some top European
destinations such as Portugal.
P&O Ferries said it had seen high levels of demand at Calais
over the weekend as people tried to return before midnight
although its efforts to return passengers were curbed by its
need to limit customers on ships to allow social distancing.
($1 = 0.7875 pounds)
(Additional reporting by Estelle Shirbon; editing by Guy
Faulconbridge and Jason Neely)
