EasyJet grounds 'entire fleet' over coronavirus

[LONDON] British airline easyJet on Monday said it had grounded its entire fleet because of the novel coronavirus pandemic but would still be available for rescue flights to repatriate stranded customers.

"As a result of the unprecedented travel restrictions imposed by governments in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the implementation of national lockdowns across many European countries, easyJet has, today, fully grounded its entire fleet of aircraft," it said in a statement.

"At this stage there can be no certainty of the date for restarting commercial flights."

The carrier, which already last week began to ground a majority of its planes, added Monday that it had so far operated 650 rescue flights, returning more than 45,000 customers.

"The last of these rescue flights were operated on Sunday... We will continue to work with government bodies to operate additional rescue flights as requested," easyJet said.

EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren noted that crew members had volunteered to operate rescue flights.

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"I am extremely proud of the way in which people across easyJet have given their absolute best at such a challenging time," he said in the statement,

Following the full grounding of its planes, easyJet said that for two months from Wednesday, crew would be paid 80 per cent of their average pay thanks to an emergency scheme introduced by the UK government to keep workers in jobs.

AFP