Ryanair’s winter flights have been cut by a third, the company announced, blaming the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the industry. EU flight restrictions have hindered the budget airline from operating its flights. 
In addition to the reduced flights, Ryanair claimed that it may have to cut more jobs. Its chief executive, Michael O’Leary, said, “There will regrettably be more redundancies at those small number of cabin crew bases, where we have still not secured agreement on working time and pay cuts, which is the only alternative.”
He continued, “While we deeply regret these winter schedule cuts, they have been forced upon us by government mismanagement of EU air travel.”
In October, the budget airline announced that it will be cutting down its flights by 40% but has extended to March, until the end of the winter season. It plans to “minimise cash burn” by keeping its planes 70% full. 
“We continue to actively manage our cost base to be prepared for the inevitable rebound and recovery of short haul air travel in Europe once an effective Covid-19 vaccine is developed.”
The flights that are expected to be cancelled are from bases including Belgium, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Vienna. These bases follow Cork and Shannon in Ireland and in Toulouse, France, which have already been shut down.