Cancelled flights: Which airlines have reduced services during lockdown?

As lockdown 2.0 comes into force in England from 5 November, so too do new, much harsher restrictions on travel.

Under the government guidelines, both domestic and international leisure travel is off limits, affecting thousands of holidaymakers.

Many airlines are responding by hugely reducing the number of flights they plan on operating over the next month.

We round up the main carriers that are cancelling services and look at which routes are affected.

The UK’s biggest budget airline will be running services as planned up until 5 November and operating repatriation flights to bring Brits home on 6, 7 and 8 November, but after that it will cut its schedule to the bone.

“Following the Government’s announcement on Saturday, which essentially prevents air travel in the UK, we will not be able operate the majority of our UK touching schedule during the lockdown period,” a spokesperson told The Independent.

“We will operate a reduced schedule in order to maintain connectivity between key cities in the UK alongside a small number of international routes. This will include maintaining domestic services connecting London, Scotland, Belfast, Birmingham and the Northwest.  

“We plan to resume our planned flying schedule in early December.”

EasyJet said it is contacting all customers due to travel in the next month and laying out their options. All travellers can change their flights to a later date and, if their flights are cancelled, they’re entitled to a credit voucher or full refund.  

Customers booked to travel out of the UK up to and including 5 November have been advised that their return flights are not likely to operate – if they no longer wish to travel they can transfer their flights for free, or receive a voucher or a refund for the value of their booking.

Customers who are currently abroad and whose return flights are cancelled are being notified and provided with guidance on how to transfer free of charge to an alternative flight back to the UK.

For now, Virgin Atlantic says it will be operating its schedule as advertised during lockdown.

“Virgin Atlantic understands the difficulties that Covid-19 and the latest national restrictions pose to our customers with upcoming travel plans, and we are offering as much flexibility as possible for those whose trips are affected,” said a spokesperson.      

“We are currently evaluating what this means for our customers and flying programme. At present, our schedule remains as published on our website.”

However, if the airline does cancel a flight, it will automatically provide customer credit equal to the value of the fare, with customers able to book until 30 December 2022. Passengers whose flights have been cancelled are also entitled to a cash refund if they’d prefer.

For those whose flights are operating as scheduled but who cannot fly due to the national lockdown, Virgin is allowing them to rebook, with a name change and two date change fees waived, for a new travel date up until 30 December 2022. Those who have booked via a third party or travel agent are advised to get in touch with them directly, rather than the airline.

“We will be in touch with our customers if their flight is cancelled, and thank them for bearing with us as we receive a very high volume of calls to our Customer Centre,” said the airline.

Tui UK has decided not to operate any of its flights and holidays departing from England and Wales from 5 November to 2 December.

All holidays scheduled to depart until 4 November will operate as normal.

With different restrictions in place for Scotland, package holidays departing from there are currently unaffected. All Tui UK customers with accommodation-only bookings can also still travel if they wish, or they can choose to amend their trip for free.

Tui-owned Marella Cruises is extending its pause in operations up to and including 16 December 2020. The launch of the Tui River Cruise programme is also postponed, with three ships now set to launch in March and April 2021.

The tour operator said it will be proactively contacting all customers impacted by the changes over the coming days to discuss their options, which include amending holidays for free with a booking incentive, receiving a refund credit note with a booking incentive, or requesting a full cash refund.

Europe’s biggest low-cost carrier has no plans to cancel flights at present.

Ryanair said it has already culled its schedule to 40 per cent of last year’s winter capacity and will not be making further cuts.

“Ryanair recently announced it is reducing its winter schedule taking capacity down to 40 per cent compared to the prior year. Following these reductions, our revised UK schedule will operate as normal,” said a spokesperson.

In addition to the winter closure of its bases in Cork, Shannon and Toulouse, Ryanair has announced significant base aircraft cuts in Belgium, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Vienna.

Customers who do not wish to travel during lockdown can change their November flights to a later date with no amendment fee.

The UK flag carrier has said its schedule will operate as normal until 5 November.

However, during lockdown BA is suspending all passenger services from London Gatwick, barring repatriation flights.

“Following the Government's announcement of a new national lockdown for England last Saturday, we have been urgently reviewing our schedule for November,” the airline told The Independent.

“Our focus is on keeping crucial air links open – bringing home the thousands of customers currently abroad, transporting vital goods, and ensuring people who are permitted to travel in and out of the UK for work, education and other reasons stipulated by the UK Government, can continue to do so.”

BA has said that all passengers affected by cancellations to its schedule will be contacted and given various options, including requesting a refund or credit voucher or rebooking for another date.

For customers whose flights aren’t cancelled but who can no longer travel because of the aforementioned ban, BA is encouraging them to go to ba.com “where they can request a voucher for future travel if their flight continues to operate.”

Jet2 has confirmed that all its flights and holidays to Greece (Crete and Rhodes) and Cyprus (Larnaca and Paphos) have been suspended.

The company is planning to restart operations to Greece from 30 March 2021 and Cyprus from 13 February 2021.

“Where customers yet to travel are affected by any programme changes, we have been repeatedly recognised for how we have been looking after them, and we will be automatically cancelling affected bookings with a full refund,” said a spokesperson.

“For customers in resort, we are operating a programme of inbound flights up to and including 8 November. We will contact customers who are currently in resort to advise them of their options regarding flying back to the UK.”

Jet2 added that it would be providing updates regarding other destinations “as soon as possible.”

Wizz Air has not committed to cancelling flights just yet but is “reviewing” its schedule.

A spokesperson said: “Wizz Air will continue to operate flights to/from the UK, but its flight schedule is currently being reviewed in light of the announced travel restrictions and any potential diminished demand.” 

The airline says it is proactively contacting any passengers whose flights are cancelled (provided they booked directly with Wizz). 

If Wizz Air does cancel a flight, passengers are entitled to either 120 per cent of the original fare in airline credit, or to a 100 per cent cash refund. There’s also the option to rebook for free. Passengers who booked via travel agencies third party websites are being advised to contact the seller of the tickets instead for further information and refund options.