Europe 1 with AFP 1:45 p.m., April 4, 2022

British carrier EasyJet has canceled more than 200 flights since the weekend, while 60 more were canceled for the day on Monday, largely due to employees ill with Covid-19, and the disruption is expected to continue this week.

The company specifies that passengers can choose to modify their trip, receive a voucher or even request a full refund.

In a few days, the British company EasyJet canceled more than 200 flights, in part because of employees sick with Covid-19.

“We have taken steps to mitigate these disruptions by calling in employees who (were not supposed to work) this weekend” but the company had to resort to cancellations despite everything, according to a spokesperson.

"Unfortunately new cancellations were necessary" for Monday and Tuesday, he added, apologizing on behalf of the "low cost" carrier.

Last minute cancellations

The company confirmed to AFP on Monday morning that "more than 200 flights" were canceled during the weekend and that "about 60 more" could not take off as planned on Monday.

EasyJet said it is concentrating its cancellations on destinations served by several flights "to give customers more options to book a new trip, often for the same day", according to a press release sent to AFP.

The company specifies that passengers can choose to modify their trip, receive a voucher or even request a full refund.

But many passengers concerned complained on Twitter of flights canceled at the last moment and of difficulties in finding alternative solutions, in particular from Paris or Geneva.

Simon Rudkins, 50, told PA he was due to return to the UK from a family skiing trip to the Alps, but the airline contacted him less than 10 hours before the departure to notify them of the cancellation of their flight.

4.9 million people positive for Covid-19 in the United Kingdom

"We called Easyjet to ask them for alternatives", but "we were told, basically, + there is nothing, no flights at all. The best you can do is fly tomorrow +", a- he recounted.

The number of people infected with Covid-19 in the UK has reached a new record, according to estimates released on Friday, with 4.9 million people infected with the virus the previous week.

The World Health Organization criticized several European countries at the end of March, including Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, for having lifted their anti-Covid measures too “brutally” with the consequence of a sharp rise. cases.