A hard blow for those who wanted to put the coronavirus behind them by flying to new countries. The British company EasyJet has canceled more than 200 flights since this weekend, largely because of employees sick with Covid-19. 60 more flights have been canceled for the day on Monday, and the disruptions are expected to continue this week.
“We have taken steps to mitigate this disruption by bringing in employees who [ne devaient pas travailler] this weekend” but the company had to resort to cancellations despite everything, according to a spokesperson. “Unfortunately new cancellations were necessary” for Monday and Tuesday, he added, apologizing on behalf of the “low cost” carrier.
angry passengers
EasyJet said it is concentrating its cancellations on destinations served by several flights “to give customers more options to book a new trip, often for the same day”, according to a press release sent to AFP. The company specifies that passengers can choose to modify their trip, receive a voucher or even request a full refund.
But many passengers concerned complained on Twitter of flights canceled at the last moment and of difficulties in finding alternative solutions, in particular from Paris or Geneva.
“There is nothing, no thefts at all”
Simon Rudkins, 50, told PA he was due to return to the UK from a family skiing trip to the Alps, but the airline contacted him less than 10 hours before the departure to notify them of the cancellation of their flight.
“We called Easyjet to ask them for alternatives,” but “we were told, basically, ‘there’s nothing, no flights at all. The best you can do is fly tomorrow,'” he recounted.
Record contamination across the Channel
The number of people infected with Covid-19 in the UK has reached a new record, according to estimates released on Friday, with 4.9 million people infected with the virus the previous week.
The World Health Organization had criticized several European countries at the end of March, including Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, for having lifted their anti-Covid measures too “brutally” with the consequence of a sharp rise. cases.