easyJet to cancel flights amid coronavirus outbreak concerns

Budget airline easyJet has announced it will be cancelling some of its flights in the wake of the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The firm has stated that it has seen ‘significant’ decrease of demand into and out of Northern Italy, as well as some slower demand across other European markets.

In order to mitigate the impact from COVID-19 - otherwise known as coronavirus - the company plans to take a range of cost-saving measures.

Cuts in administrative areas, recruitment and pay freezes, postponement of non-critical capital spending and halting all non-mandatory training will all form part of easyJet’s plan to improve operational efficiency during the outbreak.

In a statement this morning the firm said: “easyJet is working closely with authorities and are following the guidelines provided by the World Health Organisation and EASA to ensure the health and wellbeing of our people and customers.

“We have a cross-functional working group that has been meeting daily to make sure that all our processes and policies remain effective.

“Our procedures for dealing with communicable diseases are similar to those developed during the SARS epidemic and other global health emergencies.”