EasyJet criticises UK government over ‘confusing’ travel messages

EasyJet slammed the UK government on Thursday for sending out confusing messages on international travel, forcing the airline to scale back flight plans for the start of the peak summer holiday season. The UK-listed carrier expects to fly 15 per cent of its normal schedule between April and June as CE Johan Lundgren lowered forecasts for passenger travel. The projections are less optimistic than an update last month, when the company said it would fly 20% of its pre-pandemic schedule and ramp up from May. Lundgren said the government’s mixed messages over whether people should travel abroad had led to the cut, although he plans to increase capacity towards the end of the three-month period. “They aren’t following their own criteria [for restarting travel] and making it confusing in terms of if people should travel,” he said. The UK government reopened its borders to limited leisure travel this week, but passengers are only able to visit a handful of destinations, such as Portugal and Gibraltar, without quarantining on their return.<br/>