British low-cost airline easyJet has said that it will restart a small number of flights on June 15, becoming the latest airline to plan for the return of European travel by making face masks mandatory onboard.
EasyJet's planes have been grounded since late March due to the COVID-19 crisis. The airline said that it will primarily restart domestic flights in Britain and France before adding other destinations.
Flights will restart with new safety measures including the wearing of masks by passengers and cabin crew, enhanced cleaning of aircraft and no food service onboard.
EasyJet joins bigger competitor Ryanair, as well as Aer Lingus, Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and Wizz , in making masks compulsory.
Routes With Enough Demand To Support Profitable Flying
EasyJet said that the flights that it is resuming will be on routes where it believes demand will be enough to support profitable flying, helping it preserve cash to survive the crisis.
The airline did not give guidance on what sort of capacity it is aiming to get to in July.
Given the restrictions still in place between some countries and a UK plan to bring in a 14-day quarantine for arrivals from abroad, easyJet's focus will be on internal flights from Gatwick, Bristol, Edinburgh and Belfast in the United Kingdom, and from Nice, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Toulouse in France.
There will also be a minimal number of international routes from Geneva.
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