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Date Published: 13/05/2020
ARCHIVED - Will Ryanair be able to fly to Spain even though it wants to?
At the moment there are a lot of different factors which need to be taken into consideration
Although Ryanair has announced plans to restore 40% of flight schedules from July 1st on 90 percent of its route network, some of which will be scheduled for Spain, is it realistic to expect that flights to Spain will be able to operate as planned given the current evolution of the Covid-19 virus worldwide?
The airline said in its press statement this would be subject to governments lifting travel bans within the EU, and public health measures being put in place in airports.
“Ryanair will operate a daily flight schedule of almost 1,000 flights, restoring 90 per cent of its pre-Covid-19 route network,” the airline said.
“Since mid-March, when the flight restrictions were applied because of the Covid-19, Ryanair has been operating 30 daily flights between Ireland, the United Kingdom and Europe. Starting on July 1st, Ryanair will fly again from most of its 80 European bases. There will be fewer daily / weekly frequencies on major routes, as the company continues to work to restore its services on as many routes as possible, rather than operating fewer connections, but with more frequencies.”
It's a canny move by the airline as new bookings will contribute to improving its cashflow, and readers are also reporting that the airline is selling flights to passengers for June who will not be allowed to disembark should the current restrictions be extended, but the big problem facing passengers who currently have vouchers which can be redeemed against new flights and those looking at booking a summer holiday or a visit to family members living here in Spain is whether the flights now being advertised on the companies’ webpage will actually be available when the advertised dates arrive.
Or will they simply be cancelled, passengers given vouchers and Ryanair keep hold of the cash!
Ryanair has committed to hygiene measures to protect both travellers and its staff, who will all have to wear masks, including cashless on-board snacks transactions but has refused to consider reducing capacity on its flights. Last month Chief executive Michael O’Leary called this idea “idiotic” and expressed his determination to sell as many seats as possible this summer.
The company has received a lambasting from passengers this spring following the decision to issue vouchers instead of refunds for passengers whose flights were cancelled during the Covid crisis, many of whom now face difficult decisions about whether to book one of the newly-announced summer flights or not.
Social media yesterday was awash with concerned property owners anxiously asking residents who live here in Spain for advice about whether we realistically believe the flights will be operating this summer.
Obviously, NONE OF US can give the correct answer, because if we’re honest, none of us CAN answer that question AT THE MOMENT.
So, what factors need to be taken into consideration if trying to make this difficult decision?
1. THE DE-ESCALATION PLAN OF THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT ANTICIPATES A RETURN TO NORMAL MOVEMENT BY 22ND JUNE and this is the first date that there is any possibility of tourists coming to Spain. However, this depends on the evolution of the virus and the successful navigation of a four phase plan by each of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions. On Monday only half of Spain’s population moved into phase one of the plan, the major population centres (and air traffic hubs) of Madrid, Barcelona and Alicante (and other areas) left behind in phase zero due to the high number of cases and concern that allowing residents in these areas greater freedom would cause a new spike in cases. Their move to phase 1 will not be reviewed for 2 weeks, which puts them 2 weeks behind the rest of Spain, so should they subsequently be able to follow the same course as the rest of us, then they won´t emerge from the de-escalation plan until the end of the first week in July (at the moment Alicante is in phase zero and Murcia in phase 1; should that imbalance continue then theoretically anyone landing in Alicante is not allowed to move across the border into Murcia!).
This will undoubtedly affect their capability to receive incoming flights. It must also be pointed out that until Spain leaves the de-escalation plan (22nd June) no movement of its citizens between autonomous communities (regions) is permitted, so no tourists will be allowed to land in the mainland and move around before that date. Should that date be delayed, the restrictions will continue to apply and anyone considering travelling to Spain this summer should bear this fact very strongly in mind. The Ryanair webpage is currently offering flights from the beginning of July to airports which may not be able to operate on the dates shown. The graph below shows where the most cases of Covid are concentrated here in Spain.
2. The de-escalation evolution will vary considerably from region to region. The Canary Islands and Balearic Islands are ahead of the rest of Spain and although they are bound by the restrictions established by the national government are already negotiating with tour operators and re-establishing flights.
Lufthansa announced last week that it would be flying to Mallorca, joining Eurowing and Swissair, both of whom have re-established routes to the islands this summer.
However, at the weekend there was considerable consternation when an Iberia Express repatriation flight from Madrid to Gran Canaria left Madrid almost full, incredulous passengers sharing images of the crowded plane on social media. The Guardia Civíl met the plane on the tarmac and has issued a denuncia against the company for failing to observe social distancing as well as reporting the operator to the Civil Aviation Authority, so the situation is still complicated.
3. No tourist flights coming to Spain at the moment: At the moment the lack of flights to Spain is not because of any ban imposed by the Spanish government, (the only country banned from flying to Spain is Italy) but because the airlines themselves have chosen not to operate flights as it is not viable to do so when the government has banned the entry of non-residents. International land and sea borders are closed, although air borders are not, but this is only to allow repatriation flights and some internal flights.
4. Yesterday the Spanish government imposed a 14 day quarantine on all new arrivals to Spain and also extended its closure of land and sea borders to 24th May. It is likely that the state of emergency in Spain, which currently ends on 24th May, will be further extended and the prime minister has made it clear that he intends to try and maintain it until the end of June (today he reiterated this intent).
It must be pointed out that ONLY RESIDENTS OF SPAIN (ie those with residencias) and Spanish nationals are allowed to enter the country and even they must now enter a 14 day quarantine period.
The new rules are not designed to cover tourists, as NO TOURISTS are permitted to enter as long as the current restrictions are in place. Anyone considering travelling to Spain after the 24th May will have to bear this in consideration and remember that this situation is likely to be extended. How long for depends entirely on the evolution of the virus. However, the 22nd June, as stated above is the earliest potential date foreign tourists can expect to come to Spain.
5. Europe must decide: This weekend both the Spanish health minister and the prime minister made it absolutely clear in press conferences that their priority is protecting Spain and those who live here from “possible contagion by visitors coming into the country”. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Saturday at a press conference that "we are working at European level to see how we can safely begin to re-open air routes to the best of our ability under the protection of a European response," he said, reiterating the stance of the Spanish government that the aviation issue is a "clearly European" case, since it depends on the health situations of the rest of the countries, and requires a regulatory framework that establishes conditions for all European partners.
However, both the Minister for Health, Salvador Illa, and the Minister of Transport, José Luis Ábalos, have both said recently that Spain will take "the decisions that it has to adopt" and would define "its own conditions" regarding air connectivity if the European Union does not regulate "promptly" in this matter. Outline European Union guidelines published today regarding an exit strategy to restart cross-border operations including air travel are little more than a set of recommendations that member states should enter into discussions and enforce sanitary precautions, “Travel restrictions and border controls currently applied should be lifted once the border regions’ epidemiological situation converges sufficiently and social-distancing rules are widely and responsibly applied,” says the EU roadmap to re-establishing connectivity post-Covid.
So all of this depends entirely on the evolution of the virus throughout Europe. The data below is today, Wednesday, and clearly shows how many cases are still active throughout Europe. Whether the pandemic will be “over” by the beginning of July is highly debatable and we all have to be realistic; our governments will do what they have to do to protect the native population and at the moment there is no EU consensus about either when, or how, travel within Europe will re-open and borders come down.
The UK may have to accept that its citizens will be excluded from the re-opening of internal Europe. Yesterday the UK had 3,403 NEW cases, the highest percentage increase in Europe and Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned British citizens during an interview on the ITV's This Morning show it's "likely to be the case" there won't be a normal summer holiday season. “Social distancing will have to be maintained for some time,” he said. "The conclusion from that is it is unlikely that big, lavish international holidays are going to be possible for this summer."
Following his interview the BBC spoke to the owners of travel company Hays Travel, which took over Thomas Cook's shops last year. John Hay infuriated many Spanish residents by saying, “"There is a real desire to go on holiday. People have been locked down, and in terms of new bookings we're getting strong demand."
"If people in the UK are already in lockdown, they might be happy to spend another fortnight at home. Some people might say go to Spain or somewhere, have a nice holiday and then come back and continue their lockdown," he said.
So let’s get that clear. If the UK is still in lockdown as Covid is still active in the UK, then Spain will welcome UK holidaymakers who may still potentially be contagious with open arms so they can have a nice holiday, leave local residents with their Covid cases and then go back to lockdown in the UK. Do you realistically think that the Spanish government will be happy for that to happen???? Honestly????????
And with the current level of cases in the UK, and the rate at which it is still increasing, do you honestly think the UK will have no cases by the end of June?????
6.Economically. Yes of course Spain wants tourist revenue this summer. In July 2019, 9.88 million foreign tourists visited Spain, spending 52,360 million euros and this volume of expenditure will be sorely missed by the tourism sector which is bracing itself for a difficult summer.
Realistically, few tourism authorities are expecting many foreign visitors and a huge effort is being put into making tourism in Spain safe and secure this summer, although most authorities are publicly admitting that their focus will be on domestic tourism and focusing on bringing Spanish tourists from the cities to the coasts to help businesses through a very uncertain summer. Staycations are high on the menu in Spain.
By September this may all be over and it will be possible for foreign tourists to travel from the UK and other countries, be able to freely move around Spain and enjoy the warm autumn sunshine which is so much more attractive to international visitors than the baking summer months, and providing that there isn´t an immediate resurgence in cases, may be the best time to plan a trip.
But there is NO CLEAR ANSWER at the moment, only a lot of questions.
YESTERDAY THERE WERE STILL 62,000 ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 ACROSS SPAIN: TAKE SENSIBLE MEASURES TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND PREVENT THE FURTHER SPREAD OF THE CORONAVIRUS.
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