- Quote: ‘It has long-lasting impacts and we hope the Scottish government can make decisions quickly – so we can get back to flying to Spain soon’
By Andrew Atkinson
Jet2 has suspended all flights to Spain from Scotland following the announcement by first minister Nicola Sturgeon that a 14-day quarantine is to be put in place on travelling.
Passengers travelling into Scotland from Spain have to go into isolation for 14 days, after Sturgeon confirmed she would not allow an air bridge with the country.
Spain and Serbia were left off the quarantine exemption list – announced in the wake of concerns about the prevalence of Covid-19.
Flights from Glasgow and Edinburgh Airports will not resume until July 25.
A spokesperson for Jet2 said: “Our customers have been eagerly awaiting clarity about where they can travel to from Scotland for some time, and based on the demand we are experiencing it is clear that they are ready for their much-needed and well-deserved holidays.
“Because of the travel restrictions that are still in place to Spain, as a result of this week’s announcement by the Scottish government, we have taken the decision to recommence our flights and holidays programmes from Edinburgh and Glasgow Airports to Mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands on 25 July 2020.”
Jet2 said customers would be offered a refund, or the opportunity to re-book.
Most of Jet2 flights from Scotland to holiday destinations are scheduled to resume on July 15.
From July 11, Scots are able to travel to 57 other countries, without having to self-isolate on returning.
The first minister said it was a very difficult decision to make, but that it was needed to protect Scotland as far as possible, from a resurgence of this virus in the weeks ahead.
Edinburgh Airport has warned approximately a third of its 7,000 jobs are under threat.
Director of communications Gordon Robertson said the airport will not return to 2019 levels of business for another few years, and certainly not back to any kind of normality until 2021.
Redundancies are currently being negotiated, in consultation with unions.
“We employ 750 people there, and the airport employs around 7,000 people as a whole, and we think there will be up to a third of job losses across that, so it is a very challenging time,” Mr Robertson told BBC Radio Scotland.
He said Spain was one of our biggest markets and a big chunk of the summer schedules for airports like Edinburgh, Glasgow and Prestwick.
“More importantly, decisions made now means aircraft might move to England and not come back for next year’s summer schedule,” he said.
“It has long-lasting impacts and we hope the Scottish government can make decisions quickly- so we can get back to flying to Spain soon.”
