Airlines cancel flights to Italy amid coronavirus lockdown

Airlines Easyjet, Jet2 and Ryanair have cancelled flights to Italy because of the country’s coronavirus lockdown.

The Italian Government announced the measures on Monday, prompting the suspension of a number of flights from Scotland.

Jet2, which runs services from Glasgow to Rome and Naples and from Edinburgh to Venice, Naples and Verona, has put the measure in place until April 26.

However, the airline is contacting customers in Italy to arrange for them to fly home as there is currently no restriction on Scottish nationals leaving the country.

A Jet2 spokesman said: “We always follow the travel advice of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), who are currently advising against all but essential travel to Italy.

“As such, we have cancelled all flights to Italy (Rome, Naples, Pisa, Turin, Venice and Verona) between now and April 26 (inclusive).

“We are contacting customers who are due to travel to Italy to advise them of their options, and we are also contacting customers who are currently in Italy, to arrange to fly them back to the UK.

“The health and safety of our customers is always our number one priority. We are continuing to monitor the situation very closely and will adjust our programme accordingly.

“As we do this, we would like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding.”

Meanwhile, Ryanair has suspended its full schedule to and from the country – with the move coming into effect for international flights from Friday, March 13 until Wednesday, April 8.

The airline, which has offered refunds, said: “Ryanair apologises sincerely to all customers for these schedule disruptions, which are caused by national government restrictions and the latest decision of the Italian Government to lock down the entire country to combat the Covid-19 virus.”