Ryanair plans to restore 40 percent of flight schedules from 1 July, the airline said on Tuesday.
The Irish carrier announced that flights on 90 percent of its route network would be restored with schedules returning to about 40 percent of previous capacity.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Ryanair was operating 2,400 flights a day. It will restart flying from most of its 80 bases across Europe.
This is to allow the airline to get services back up and running on the largest possible number of routes, rather than high frequency on a smaller number.
The airline said this is subject to restrictions on flights between EU countries being lifted and public health measures being put in place in airports.
As reported in the Irish Times, “Ryanair will operate a daily flight schedule of almost 1,000 flights, restoring 90 per cent of its pre-COVID-19 route network,” the airline said.
Since restrictions began in March, Ryanair has only operated 30 flights a day between Ireland, the UK and Europe.
As part of new safety measures passengers will be encouraged to wear face masks, take temperature checks at the airport, check-in fewer bags and download boarding passes to smartphones.
Queues for the toilet will be banned during flights and passengers will have to request access from crew members.
In preparation for our return to flying, we’re bringing in new measures to help protect the health of our passengers and staff 🛫👇 pic.twitter.com/NY5iGlWh5U
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) May 11, 2020
Ryanair believes that airports should carry out temperature checks as passengers enter them. EU airports have yet to agree to take these steps.
According to the Irish Times, Eddie Wilson, chief executive of Ryanair Designated Activity Company, declared that it was time to get Europe flying again after a four-month lockdown.
“Ryanair will work closely with public health authorities to ensure that these flights comply, where possible, with effective measures to limit the spread of Covid-19,” he said.
"As already shown in Asia, temperature checks and face masks/coverings are the most effective way to achieve this on short-haul (1 hour) within Europe’s single market."
He pointed out that Ryanair already had some experience of operating with Covid-19 as it had been flying skeleton services between Dublin, London and other destinations.
