ARCHIVED - Direct Italy-Spain flights cancelled until at least 25th March due to coronavirus

Flights between Spain and Italy accounted for 9 per cent of all international passengers at Spanish airports in 2019

One of the measures announced by the Spanish government to combat the spread of the coronavirus on Tuesday is the suspension of all flights coming to Spain direct from Italian airports, although the ban is not extended to those services travelling in the other direction.

The ban comes into force from midnight on the 11th March and will remain in place until the 25th March at which point it will be reviewed.

The announcement comes the day after the Italian government effectively imposed a coronavirus lockdown within its own country, and follows similar initiatives already announced by various airlines. For example, Ryanair has announced the cancellation of all its flights to and from Italy until at least 8^th April, Finnair has done the same with respect to 2,400 flights scheduled for April throughout Europe (including the Helsinki-Barcelona route), Norwegian has cancelled around 3,000 services between now and June and British Airways has decided that all flights to Italy are to be cancelled until at least 4^th April.

The ban on incoming flights arriving in Spain will thus be supplemented by the airlines’ decisions, although it will not be applied to State aircraft, flights with no passengers on board and humanitarian, medical and emergency flights.

It is worth pointing out that last year there were over 106,000 flights between Italy and Spain with a total of 16 million passengers on board: this equates to approximately 9 per cent of all international air traffic in Spain, making Italy the third most important contributor to the sector. The only international destinations providing more passengers in 2019 were the UK (44.9 million) and Germany (29.1 million), while domestic flights within Spain accounted for 85.8 million.

At the moment no decision has been taken reference the future of the cruise ship industry; shops and businesses in Cartagena, for example, have expressed their concern about the imminent arrival of a cruise ship of Italian passengers due to dock in the port early next week.

The Spanish government has also announced a one month suspension of the Imserso subsidised holidays programme, which offers subsidised holidays for pensionistas (the elderly) in Spain and which helps to fill hotels during the low season. Murcia will be amongst the regions affected by this decision, adding to the unease of hoteliers who are already experiencing a significant downturn in bookings.

The Spanish government has also announced a ban on large-scale sporting events held at a national and professional level. This includes major football events, which will now take place behind closed doors, as well as cultural and social activities taking place in enclosed spaces attended by more than 1,000 people in Madrid, La Rioja, Vitoria and Labastida, all considered " high transmission zones".

Schools have been closed in these areas for two weeks and the government is studying the suspension of other events, including the Semana Santa celebrations in principal cities and the Fallas in Valencia.

On Tuesday afternoon Spain had 1639 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 35 deaths and 135 patients recovering from the virus.The virus is gaining pace faster in Spain than in France and Germany.

Image: Alitalia

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