EasyJet Boss Says Airline Has Prepped for Summer

EasyJet Chief Executive Johan Lundgren says the airline has prepped for summer 2021

EasyJet Chief Executive Johan Lundgren says the airline has prepped for summer 2021 and is ready to go when restrictions ease.

Mr Lundgren has urged the government to ‘take responsibility’ and give airline operators and customers an update on its plans for the easing of travel restrictions.

He said the low-cost carrier remained in limbo without further clarification on what travel corridors will be opened up in May.

Mr Lundgren has also called on Ministers to put popular destinations such as Spain, Portugal and Greece in the lowest risk category when foreign holidays resume.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We have always set out that we were going to be ready when we were allowed to start flying again, which means that we have basically kept the fleet in what we call flight-ready conditions.  But clearly we now need to get some clarity on this.

“We need to know what countries are going to go in what categories – the green amber red, framework – and we need to know when that can start to happen, so the clock is ticking.

“We urge the government to come out and communicate this.

“We are flying today – in a much smaller volume than we would expect – but there is an ongoing operation today, and we are able to ramp that up very quickly.

“But of course it’s not just us, it’s consumers, customers that need clarity about if they can make the booking for their summer, go on holiday, go and see family members that they haven’t seen for over a year.”

The low-cost airline echoed the British holiday group Jet2 in saying that bookings for later in the year in September, October and November were stronger as passengers hold off going on holiday in the summer because it is still not clear where they can travel.

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