Coronavirus: Wizz Air becomes first to announce resumption of London flights
25 April 2020, 14:02
Low-cost airline Wizz Air is set to become the first carrier to resume flights from London amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The budget European firm announced plans to restart selected journeys on Friday 1 May from London Luton Airport.
It said "enhanced" and "protective" health and safety measures would be in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Among the destinations set to be on offer to customers are Budapest, Lisbon and Tenerife.
Cabin crew will wear face masks and gloves on all flights while passengers will receive sanitising wipes, the company said in a statement.
All aircraft will be disinfected overnight and those travelling will have to adhere to social distancing measures during the boarding process.
Flights are set to resume next Friday from the airline's base as Luton Airport, Bedfordshire, to selected airports in Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Portugal, Spain and Israel.
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Owain Jones, Wizz Air UK's managing director, said: "As we restart selected Luton flights to provide an essential service to passengers who need to travel, our primary concern is the health, safety and well-being of our customers and crew.
"The protective measures that we are implementing will ensure the most sanitary conditions possible.
"We encourage our customers to watch our new video on how to stay safe when travelling, as well as for more details on our new health and safety measures."
Other measures set to be introduced will include asking customers to check-in online and make any additional payments for services, such as extra bags, online in order to reduce physical interaction at the airport.
They will also be "encouraged" to pay for onboard purchases via contactless payments.
The London-listed Hungarian company said flights will resume to:
- Budapest in Hungary
- Cluj-Napoca, Constanta, Craiova, Iasi, Suceava, Targu Mures, Satu Mare and Timisoara in Romania
- Belgrade in Serbia
- Bratislava and Kosice in Slovakia
- Lisbon in Portugal
- Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands
- Tel Aviv in Israel.
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