EASY JET CANCELS ALL PACKAGE HOLIDAYS TO FRANCE, MALTA AND THE NETHERLANDS

 Evening Standard 14 August 2020 - by Laura Hampson

© Provided by Evening Standard

Budget airline easyJet has cancelled all its package holidays to France, Malta and the Netherlands today after the nations were reintroduced to the government’s quarantine list.

Yesterday it was announced that Brits arriving from France, Malta, the Netherlands, Monaco, Aruba and Turks & Caicos would have to undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine when returning to the UK from early Saturday morning.

An easyJet spokesperson said: “We heard the news from the government on Malta, France and the Netherlands being added to the travel quarantine list and the FCO advice changing to all but essential travel for these countries at the same time as everyone else.

“Despite another late night announcement, we were able to contact our affected customers very soon afterwards to let them know we have cancelled their holiday and will be processing full refunds as quickly as possible.”

The airline has said all holidays will be cancelled until the end of August, when the situation will be reviewed.

It was also reported this morning that easyJet sold 23 of its aircraft to financiers today, including a Chinese state controlled bank, for a whopping £608 million. The airline will now lease back the planes.

This takes easyJet’s Covid funding to £2.4 billion, including £400 million from two bank loans and £600 million from the government’s corporate financing scheme.