Ryanair has been forced to cancel flights to Spain after the country declared a state of emergency amid the growing coronavirus outbreak.
The budget airline says flights from today Sunday, March 15 to Thursday, March 19 have been severely reduced or cancelled.
Flights to and from mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands have been impacted.
Ryanair has attributed the cancellation of the flights to the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country, which has seen more than 193 people die after testing positive for the bug.
A spokesperson for the firm said: “In response to the decision of the Spanish Government to ‘lock down’ the entire country to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus, Ryanair Group Airlines (including Buzz and Lauda) has been forced to severely reduce flights to/from Spain, the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands from 24:00 Sun 15 Mar until 24:00 Thurs 19 Mar.
“We are contacted all affected customers by email to advise them of their options and we urge customers not to call us.
“This is a fast-moving and complex situation and the safety and well-being of our people and customers is our main priority. We will continue to comply fully with all WHO and EASA guidelines and we will follow any travel restrictions that are imposed.
“Ryanair Group Airlines apologises sincerely to all customers affected by these restrictions introduced by the Spanish Government which are necessary to combat the Covid-19 virus.”
Ryanair is the latest airliner to cancel flights as both Jet2 and TUI announced they would be cancelling a number of flights to Spain for at least the next seven days.
A number of flights were spotted turning back to the UK just moments after taking off towards the country on Saturday.
