Airlines start to scrap UK flights following new lockdown

Airlines kicked off 2021 by shrinking their already meager UK schedules, prompted by a new coronavirus lockdown and the prospect of further restrictions on travel abroad. EasyJet, Britain’s biggest discount carrier, pared back its flying program to prioritize essential connections between key UK cities and “a small number of international routes.” British Airways said it’ll keep crucial links open, while TUI on Tuesday halted all package holiday tours from the UK through mid-February, when the new lockdown is set to end. A spokeswoman for Wizz Air, which has been adding UK bases in an effort to emerge stronger from the pandemic, said it will review capacity to ensure that it remains appropriate to demand. The fast-spreading virus strain that’s driven up UK case counts has also dashed airline-industry hopes of relief from 2020’s unrelenting downturn. PM Boris Johnson late Monday announced a new coronavirus lockdown that will keep most people at home until mid-February, when vaccines being rolled out are able to stem the worst infection rates since the start of the outbreak. EasyJet had already reduced its schedule for next week by one-third and Ryanair by two-thirds, said John Grant, senior analyst at travel data provider OAG. While airlines were braced for near-term disruption, the effects of the new lockdown would be magnified if it were to cause the industry to miss a second high season after last summer’s collapse, said HSBC analyst Andrew Lobbenberg. “The next six weeks won’t be a make or break for any of the major airlines but several would be challenged if the summer recovery doesn’t happen,” Lobbenberg said. “At some stage in March and April they are going to want to see those inflows for summer bookings.”<br/>