Ryanair will resume flights to Italy, Spain and Greece from July 1

Budget airline Ryanair has confirmed that it will begin operating 40% of its normal schedule from July 1. Ryanair has said that it will resume daily flights to “key holiday airports” in Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus, and will fly from destinations in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.

The news comes as several European countries prepare to open their borders to tourism as COVID-19 lockdown measures ease. Italy is set to open to some European countries from June 3, while Spain hopes to welcome tourists from July 1.

Ryanair is hoping to kickstart travel on their low-cost airline by launching a sale for flights in July and August with one-way fares starting from 29.99 euro if booked before May 28.

Since mid-March, Ryanair has been operating a reduced service of 30 flights a day. From July 1, they hope to offer up to 1,000 flights per day to many popular holiday destinations.

The company has announced that flights will be subject to new EU health guidelines. These include obligatory face masks for all Ryanair passengers and flight crew at all times within the airport and on board the aircraft. Passengers will have to ask the cabin crew to use the toilet in order to avoid queues forming.

Other airlines are now following suit, with EasyJet announcing it will resume some flights from June 15, and British Airways hoping to return to service in July.

The UK is due to impose a 14-day quarantine for anyone arriving in the country from June 8, but the regulations will be reviewed every three weeks.