Aer Lingus has called on the government to drop its 14 day quarantine for incoming passengers to Ireland.
Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Donal Moriarty said more clarity is needed around travel advice and insists the two week isolation isn’t necessary.
He said: “We don’t think it’s necessary (quarantine).
“In other countries in the EU, tourism is starting up again, or they have certainty around dates when they can open again.
“For example, Spain is opening at the start of July, and they have no quarantine.
“It’s clear that we’re doing well in the fight against the coronavirus and we have the statistics, they are strong, and they are comparable to other countries who are opening up again to travel and tourism.
“We believe that the government has an obligation to change their (travel) advice, and to end the quarantine requirement, we don’t think it’s necessary anymore.”
Speaking about the announcement of further temporary pay cuts for employees, Mr Moriarty said it was a difficult decision but “we had no other choice.”
He criticised the lack of clarity around the government advice on travel.
And said that Aer Lingus thought that flights would begin again in July, but that they weren’t able to name destinations due to this lack of clarity.
He told RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta: “Things aren’t as clear as they should be, especially in terms of the government advice on travel.
“They must change that, or give new advice, as regards international travel.
“There’s no ban at the moment, but the advice is not to travel unless absolutely necessary... and as well as that, we have the two-week quarantine for incoming passengers.
“So, we really need new advice from the government before we can implement the new system for EU flights.”
A spokeswoman for the airline said: "Aer Lingus has been communicating directly with our employees on an individual level as we align working hours and pay with the amount of work that needs to be done given the decimation in demand for travel in the immediate term and the uncertainty regarding future travel demand thereafter.”
