Travel

Jet2 stops all flights to France over coronavirus but will fly trapped Brits back


JET2 has announced it is stopping all flights to France today as the country is on coronavirus lockdown.

The budget airline, which ordered planes heading for Spain to perform a dramatic U-turn yesterday, said it would no longer fly to Lyon, Grenoble, Paris and Nice until at least April 26.

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 Jet2 has announced the cancellation of all flights to Lyon, Grenoble, Paris and Nice until at least April 26 as the airline industry battles to survive during the coronavirus outbreak

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Jet2 has announced the cancellation of all flights to Lyon, Grenoble, Paris and Nice until at least April 26 as the airline industry battles to survive during the coronavirus outbreakCredit: Alamy
 The budget airline was forced to explain its decision on Twitter earlier today

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The budget airline was forced to explain its decision on Twitter earlier todayCredit: Alamy

Jet2 has pledged to fly all of its customers trapped in France home.

It comes after the carrier said it would be suspending all flights to Spain, the Baleriac Islands and the Canary Islands yesterday.

The coronavirus crisis marks another dangerous moment for airlines, which are already facing multi-billion pound revenue losses as the disease continues to spiral out of control.

Carriers around the world are cutting routes, freezing pay and using smaller aircraft to cope with a further slump in bookings.

Ryanair, Europe’s biggest short haul carrier, said it was also cutting hundreds of services by cutting a quarter of its flights to and from Italy between 17 March and 8 April.

 Brits will be placed on rescue flights as France remains on a coronavirus lockdown

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Brits will be placed on rescue flights as France remains on a coronavirus lockdownCredit: Kenny Ramsay – The Sun Glasgow
 An empty street is seen as a preventive measure against the deadly disease

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An empty street is seen as a preventive measure against the deadly diseaseCredit: AFP or licensors

Elsewhere, Jet2 was forced to explain in a tweet how it was suspending all flights to France with immediate effect.

They said: “The French government has announced a range of restrictions, aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19.

“As a result of these measures, we will not be flying any customers to Lyon, Grenoble, Paris and Nice with immediate effect.

“We will be flying customers back to the UK from Lyon and Grenoble via our programme of scheduled flights on Saturday 21st March.

“Thereafter, we have cancelled all flights to Lyon and Grenoble for the rest of the winter.
“We will be flying customers back to the UK from Paris via our programme of scheduled flights on Sunday 15th and Monday 16th March.

“Thereafter, we have suspended all flights to Paris until 26th April and we are keeping this situation under review.”

As a result of these measures, we will not be flying any customers to Lyon, Grenoble, Paris and Nice with immediate effect

Jet2

They added how customers already in France would be placed onto rescue flights out of the country.

Those in Grenoble and Lyon will be flown back to the UK on Saturday March 21 and Britons stranded in Paris will be flown back today and tomorrow, while those in Nice will be flown back tomorrow.

A Jet2 spokesperson added: “We are contacting our customers who are currently in these areas to advise them of their options.

“This is a fast-moving and complex situation, and we would like to thank our customers for their understanding.

“The health and safety of our customers is always our number one priority.”

CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN

President Emmanuel Macron placed France on lockdown last night and banned the opening of all “non-essential public places” including cafes, bars and restaurants.

But he still gave the green light to local elections for 35,000 mayors and half-a-million municipal councils today with hygiene measures in place.

France’s health minister said on Sunday that 120 people had now died from coronavirus in France, up from 91 on Saturday.

Oliver Veran told France 2 television that the number of cases had risen to about 5,400 cases up from 4,449.

There has also been a rapid increase in serious cases, said head of public health Jerome Salomon, with 150 people below the age of 60 in intensive care.

It was not clear what additional welfare packages are being offered to customers in Grenoble and Lyon, who will have to wait six days for their rescue flight.

The move comes after Ryanair said it would “severely reduce” flights to and from Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands from midnight tonight.

Easyjet has announced it will cancel all flights to Spain from March 17.

 'The health and safety of our customers is always our number one priority,' said a Jet2 spokesperson

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‘The health and safety of our customers is always our number one priority,’ said a Jet2 spokespersonCredit: Alamy





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