Rush to book earlier flights out of Italy likely as airlines announce halts

There is set to be a scramble to get out of Italy in the coming days after many airlines, including Ryanair and Aer Lingus, announced their intention to ground flights in to and out of the country for weeks because of the coronavirus.

As moves aimed at containing the spread of the virus were ramped up across the EU, Ryanair said it would halt all Italian-bound flights from midnight on Friday. Aer Lingus will ground its planes starting today.

British Airways has also cancelled all flights to and from Italy until April 4th, and other airlines have taken similar steps.

The cancellations, for a four-week period, came in response to the Italian government announcing that the country was being locked down, with travel and movement of people severely restricted as it attempted to contain the spread of Covid-19.

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The move by the Irish airlines was all but inevitable after Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney updated his department’s travel advice on Tuesday, warning Irish citizens against travel to any part of Italy unless absolutely necessary.

It was also facilitated by the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who confirmed that the EU was temporarily dropping strict rules stating that airlines must operate 80 per cent of scheduled services to keep their landing slots at airports.

Earlier flights

Ryanair, which is halting flights to and from Italy until April 8th, said passengers looking to be repatriated by it could obtain a move to an earlier Ryanair flight for free.

Passengers due to travel to Italy will be able to choose between a full refund or a travel credit that can be redeemed on Ryanair flights in the next 12 months.

Aer Lingus flights to and from Italy are expected to be suspended from today.

Irish people with plans to travel to Italy as part of a package holiday will have to talk with tour operators to see what options they have while those who have booked trip’s independently will need to talk to your their travel insurer.

People who have booked independently and do not have travel insurance already in place will most likely not have anything to fall back on and will have to bear the cost themselves.

Italy’s nationwide lockdown limits travel to those with “verifiable work requirements or situations of necessity”.

All sporting events have been suspended, and schools and universities have been shut until April 3rd. Employees have been urged either to work from home or take annual leave.