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24th Nov 2020

Ryanair CEO states coronavirus vaccine “not relevant” for short-haul flights

Rory Cashin

Ryanair

Earlier this week, one of the biggest airlines in the world stated passengers would need proof of having received the vaccine before boarding.

On Monday, Alan Joyce – the Dublin-born CEO of Qantas, stated that “We are looking at changing our terms and conditions to say for international travellers that we will ask people to have a vaccination before they can get on the aircraft.

“We are looking at changing our terms and conditions to say for international travellers that we will ask people to have a vaccination before they can get on the aircraft.”

While there are currently three very promising vaccinations in the works, the CEO of Ryanair doesn’t think that they’ll be necessary for short-haul flights.

Speaking to Newstalk, Eddie Wilson said the following:

“With Qantas, they’re a long-haul operator – vaccinations in that context are really for long-haul. With short-haul and freedom of movement of people in Europe… I think we’ll see an entirely different landscape come Spring and early Summer. [It’s] not really relevant for short-haul and European travel.”

He also spoke of the increase in business for flights during December:

“We’ve got extra demand… people are starting to travel. In November… people were cutting schedules everywhere. But for Christmas I think people are starting to travel again.”

At the time of writing (Tuesday, November 24), Ireland’s COVID positivity rate per 100,000 is 103.3, down from 107.8 on Monday.

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