Ryanair has said it expects to ground virtually all of its flights from late next Tuesday.

In a statement today, the carrier said all departures would be cancelled except for a very small number of flights to maintain essential connectivity, mostly between the UK and Ireland.

From now until next week, the Irish airline said it would cut flight schedules by over 80 per cent.

“All affected customers will receive an email to advise them of their options and we kindly ask customers not to call us as our call centres are overloaded dealing with customer queries,” Ryanair said.

The carrier said the latest information on what flights were operating was available on its travel advisory website.

Ryanair said it would also continue to stay in close contact with the foreign ministries of all EU governments to allow work on the repatriation of EU citizens.

The carrier said, where possible, it may operate rescue flights to support this repatriation.

“Ryanair sincerely regrets all disruptions caused by this unprecedented Covid-19 crisis,” added a statement from the airline.

“The safety and well-being of our people and customers is our main priority and we will continue to comply with all WHO and EASA guidelines, as well as all government travel restrictions which have been imposed over recent days to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.”

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