Coronavirus: EasyJet Grounds All Flights

“Over recent days EasyJet has been helping to repatriate customers, having operated more than 650 rescue flights to date, returning home more than 45,000 customers.

“The last of these rescue flights were operated on Sunday, March 29. We will continue to work with government bodies to operate additional rescue flights as requested.

EasyJet said today it was focused on short term liquidity, including removing cost from the business and working with suppliers to defer and reduce payments where possible, including on aircraft expenditure, and was in ongoing discussions with liquidity providers.

The airline said that grounding its aircraft removed significant cost.

The budget airline’s boss Johan Lundgren said he was “working tirelessly” to make sure the airline was “well-positioned to overcome the challenges of coronavirus”.

“I am extremely proud of the way in which people across EasyJet have given their absolute best at such a challenging time,” he added.

EasyJet’s headquarters are at London Luton Airport and it has 331 planes. In normal times, it serves 159 airports and 1,051 routes.

According to the International Air Transport Association, global airlines could be facing a cash shortfall of $200 billion this year. IATA said last week that European carriers could lose $76 billion in revenue and see passenger demand cut in half relative to 2019.