Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has said that he believes Irish people will be holidaying abroad by July.
Speaking on RTE’s Morning Ireland, O'Leary said, "If 50% of our population is vaccinated by the end of June, which we now expect, we see a strong recovery of travel [and] summer holidays during the school holidays in July, August and September."
He added, "The reality is that the UK will have vaccinated 50% of the population, everybody over 50, by the end of March. Ireland needs to catch up."
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, O'Leary said, "If you have everybody over 50 vaccinated, and that should be done by the end of June, then there is no requirement for any restrictions.
"Long haul will take longer, but Irish people and families will be booking and going abroad to Portugal, Spain, Greece and Italy this summer.
"The rate of vaccination will accelerate quite dramatically through February, March, April, May and June - not just in Ireland but across Europe."
Ryanair reportedly suffered a third-quarter loss of €306m.
New regulations came into effect from today (Monday, February 1) which will see an increased fine given to those travelling to a port or airport with intent to leave Ireland without a reasonable excuse.
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