Ryanair today (Fri 23^rd Apr) called on Taoiseach Micheál Martin to scrap Ireland’s defective hotel quarantine for certain EU countries, and to deliver a roadmap for the re-opening of EU air travel in time for summer holidays.

Mandatory hotel quarantine for EU arrivals is an absurd measure when Ireland has a 500km open land border with the UK. Travellers coming into Ireland can easily avoid designated hotel facility by flying through Belfast or via the many EU countries that are not on Ireland’s hotel quarantine list – making Ireland’s hotel quarantine completely pointless.

The Govt mismanagement of travel during C-19 now sees Ireland as the only EU country to implement (a defective) hotel quarantine. Their failed travel polices are damaging Ireland’s international reputation and severely impacting connectivity to and from the country.

The successful rollout of vaccines to Ireland’s most vulnerable persons (elderly and hospital staff) led to a dramatic drop in hospitalisations and serious illness, with less than 50 cases currently in ICU. With these numbers in mind, the Irish Govt must now deliver clear timelines for the re-opening of EU air travel before the end of May to ensure that all citizens who have been vaccinated are allowed to travel freely and without restrictions.

A spokesperson for Ryanair said:           

 “We can’t continue being the failed outliers of Europe. Our Govt must act now and apply common sense before it is too late to save connectivity to/from the island of Ireland.

 The successful rollout of vaccines to our most vulnerable has led to a dramatic drop in hospitalisations and deaths and the Irish Govt can no longer justify locking down 5M citizens with currently less than 50 people in ICU. Equally, it must end our defective hotel quarantine when people travelling from the EU can easily avoid it by travelling through Northern Ireland or by flying from neighbouring EU countries.

 We call on Taoiseach Micheál Martin to scrap this defective/useless hotel quarantine which only applies to certain EU countries, ensure vaccinated people can move freely to/from the EU, and set out a clear plan to re-open the nation for air travel to/from Ireland from the end of May onwards.”