Brussels Plan To Ban All Travel To Europe

Brussels yesterday moved to ban all travel to Europe in a bid to control coronavirus.

- Mark Reynolds and John Ingham

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen put forward a proposal for an initial 30-day travel ban, which could be extended.

The restrictions – which will not apply to the UK – came as ailing airlines called for a Government rescue package.

British Airways, Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic, EasyJet and holiday giant Tui are all slashing flights by up to 80 per cent to cut costs, in the face of plummeting demand and worldwide travel restrictions.

Tui suspended virtually all of its operations including flights and package holidays.

EasyJet warned that all European airlines faced a “precarious future”, while Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary described the crisis as “unprecedented” as he considered grounding his entire fleet.

Virgin Atlantic led the calls for the Government to lend the industry up to £7.5billion to weather the storm, after announcing it will suspend up to 85 per cent of its flights.