Ryanair have cut up to a quarter of flights to Italy due to a drop in bookings amid coronavirus fears.
The budget airline today announced it was reducing its short haul flight program between Tuesday, March 17th to Wednesday, April 8th in response to the outbreak.
In response to the coronavirus Ryanair said they have seen a huge drop in flight bookings and a major increase in flight no-shows heading to Italy.
The company said it will "continue to monitor bookings carefully, and will continue to flex its schedules in response to this developing situation".
A daily Covid-19 action meeting across all areas of the airline has been happening since Monday, February 24th to address the current downturn in business.
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said: "Our focus at this time is on minimising any risk to our people and our passengers. While we are heavily booked over the next two weeks, there has been a notable drop in forward bookings towards the end of Mar, into early April.
"It makes sense to selectively prune our schedule to and from those airports where travel has been most affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. This is a time for calm.
"We will make sensible cuts to our schedules over the comings weeks to reflect weaker bookings, and changing travel patterns. All affected customers will be advised of any schedule changes at least 14 days in advance.
"While 80% of people who contract Covid-19 suffer only mild symptoms, the risk of infection can be significantly reduced by frequent hand washing with soap and water.
"We will continue to comply fully with guidelines from National Governments, the WHO and EASA as they are updated on a regular basis. We will update the market in due course on any significant developments.”
