Ryanair has announced that it will restore 40 per cent of flights from 1 July 2020.

This will be subject to “Government restrictions on intra-EU flights being lifted, and effective public health measures being put in place at airports”.

The low-cost airline will restore 90 per cent of its pre-Covid-19 route network, operating a daily flight schedule of almost 1,000 flights.

From July, Ryanair will restart flying from most of its 80 bases across Europe. There will be fewer daily/weekly frequencies on trunk routes, as the airline works to restore some services on the widest number of routes, rather than operating high-frequency services on a small number.

Ryanair has also released a return to flying video, encouraging passengers to observe effective health measures to limit the Covid-19 virus.

These include fewer checked bags, check-in online, downloading boarding pass to the passenger smartphone, as well as undergoing temperature checks at airport entry and wearing face masks/coverings at all times in the terminal and onboard aircraft.

Social distancing at airports and onboard aircraft will also be encouraged where it is possible.

All Ryanair aircraft are fitted with HEPA air filters (similar to those used in critical hospital wards) and all aircraft interior surfaces are disinfected every night with chemicals, which are effective for over 24 hours. 

Cabin crew will wear face masks/coverings and a limited inflight service will be offered of pre-packaged snacks and drinks, but no cash sales. 

Queuing for toilets will also be prohibited onboard although toilet access will be made available to individual passengers upon request.

The airline will require all passengers flying in July and August to fill in details (at the point of check-in) of how long their planned visit will be, and their address while visiting another EU country, and this contact information will be provided to EU Governments to help them to monitor any isolation regulations they require of visitors on intra-EU flights.

Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson said: “It is important for our customers and our people that we return to some normal schedules from 1 July onwards. Governments around Europe have implemented a fourth-month lockdown to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

“After four months, it is time to get Europe flying again so we can reunite friends and families, allow people to return to work, and restart Europe’s tourism industry, which provides so many millions of jobs.

“Ryanair will work closely with public health authorities to ensure that these flights comply, where possible, with effective measures to limit the spread of Covid-19. As already shown in Asia, temperature checks and face masks/coverings are the most effective way to achieve this on short-haul (1 hour) within Europe’s single market.

“Now that Europe’s States are allowing some gradual return to normal life, we expect this will evolve over the coming weeks and months.

“With more than six weeks to go to 1 July, Ryanair believes this is the most practical date to resume normal flight schedules, so that we can allow friends and families to reunite, commuters to go back to work, and allow those tourism-based economies such as Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, France and others, to recover what is left of this year’s tourism season.”

Seats on all flights are now on sale at Ryanair.com from 1 July, at prices which start from just €19.99 one way.