Aer Lingus has called on the government to drop the 14-day travel quarantine rule.
Donal Moriarty, Aer Lingus Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, said that the airline doesn’t see it as “necessary”.
He explained: “In other countries in the EU, tourism is starting up again, or they have certainty around dates when they can open again.
“For example, Spain is opening at the start of July, and they have no quarantine.
“It’s clear that we’re doing well in the fight against the coronavirus and we have the statistics, they are strong, and they are comparable to other countries who are opening up again to travel and tourism.
“We believe that the government has an obligation to change their (travel) advice, and to end the quarantine requirement, we don’t think it’s necessary anymore.”
He also said that Aer Lingus would resume part of their flight schedule in July, but explained that they were unable to reveal destinations due to lack of government clarity.
Speaking to RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, he said: “Things aren’t as clear as they should be, especially in terms of the government advice on travel. They must change that, or give new advice, as regards international travel.”
“There’s no ban at the moment, but the advice is not to travel unless absolutely necessary… and as well as that, we have the two-week quarantine for incoming passengers,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary also called on the government to drop the 14-day quarantine rule, labelling it as ‘pointless’.
Speaking in the Dail yesterday, An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that summer 2020 is “far from lost”:
“It is far too soon for people to book their holidays yet, but summer is far from lost.
“However, we need to be confident that it is safe before we make the next move.”
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