British tourists turned away from Ryanair flight to Ireland over Covid tests
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary criticises 'stupid' lockdown rules
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Passengers at London Stansted Airport tried to board the flight on Tuesday but were unable to present evidence of their negative or ‘not detected’ result. By law, all passengers arriving into Ireland are required to have negative tests.
Dublin Live reports these Covid-19 RT-PCR tests must be taken within 72 hours prior to arrival in Ireland.
The passengers who hadn’t done so at Stansted were the latest to have fallen foul of new travel guidelines imposed as a result of the pandemic. It comes after 31 people were “left in tears” after they were unable to board a flight for Spain at East Midlands Airport.
Speaking in relation to the Stansted incident, a Ryanair spokeswoman said: “Ryanair fully complies with Govt restrictions. A number of passengers on this flight from London Stansted to Dublin [25 May] were denied boarding as they failed to present a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR test result, as required by Irish regulation.
“Travel restrictions update regularly. Ryanair urges all passengers to check the latest travel updates on the Ryanair.com website and with the relevant authorities in advance of their flight.”
This rule also applies to those intending to visit Ireland by ferry.
But Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has become fed up with the travel restrictions Ireland has imposed.
He has threatened to pull his planes out of the nation if the Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan doesn’t produce a plan for the return of international travel.
He told Newstalk Breakfast: “We in the tourism industry are bitterly unhappy. What we’ve been promised is not a reopening – it’s just an announcement. We have two main issues at the moment. Ireland is closed to tourism because UK visitors must quarantine at home for 14 days when they can flood across the border, making the restriction unwarranted. The UK have 75% of adults vaccinated.
“We have been calling on Eamon Ryan, who is, without doubt, one of the worst Ministers for Transport we’ve ever had to come up with a plan. Eamon Ryan has had a ten-point plan on his desk from July of last year and he has done nothing. He’s a nice man but he’s utterly ineffective.”
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