The Ryanair chief says he is confident summer holidays to Europe will happen this year, despite the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary stated that once COVID-19 vaccines are successfully rolled out across the continent, summer holidays to Europe will be given the go-ahead.
However, the Ryanair boss suggested there might still be a “few restrictions” in place for international travellers. Yet, for those hoping for a break within Europe, things are looking good for summer 2021.
Hope for summer holidays – bookings already coming in
On Monday, O’Leary spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about his optimistic outlook for summer 2021. He said, “We are taking significant bookings from people booking holidays this summer.
“There is a huge upward spike at the end of the third wave. I think the vaccine is the solution to this.”
Commenting that planning a holiday for Easter may be a bit too optimistic, the Ryanair boss predicted that holidays within Europe should return as planned by summer.
“Certainly by the summer, by the time we get to the school holidays, we’ll see few restrictions across Europe because of the roll-out of these vaccines.”
So, if you’re hoping to hop on a plane this summer, Ryanair might be your best bet!
The roll-out of vaccines – the return to normality
With the continued roll-out of vaccines across Europe, O’Leary questioned why the government would continue to restrict the movement of people once those considered high-risk receive the vaccination.
Criticising the Irish government’s decision to keep the border open between the Republic and Northern Ireland while continuing to restrict flights across Europe, O’Leary stated,
“You can’t seal your borders in countries of Europe where you have free movement of people; there is still free movement of people between the Republic of Ireland and the north of Ireland across the border.
“The real solution is vaccination, not artificial travel restrictions.”
O’Leary has long been a critic of the restrictions placed upon the airline industry in Ireland due to the pandemic.
During the height of the pandemic last summer, he even threatened to remove all Ryanair operations from Dublin and Cork airports unless Ireland dropped their ‘green list’ system identifying countries that were safe to travel to.
So, hopefully the predictions of the Ryanair boss for summer holidays happening in 2021 come true and we can all return to normality soon!
