RYANAIR is cancelling up to 25 per cent of flights to Italy over the coronavirus.

The budget airline announced this afternoon that it would reducing its short haul flight programme, particularly routes to and from Italy, for a three-week period.

3 Ryanair has become the latest airline to cancel flights due to a drop of demand caused by Covid-19 Credit: Reuters

3 The Republic of Ireland has one confirmed coronavirus case Credit: AP:Associated Press

3 Tourists wearing protective face masks at Milan Cathedral Credit: AFP

The reduced schedule will operate from March 17 until April 8 following a "significant drop in bookings" over the period, according to the carrier.

In a statement they said: "Ryanair today notified passengers that it was reducing its short haul flight programme (mainly to and from Italy) by up to 25 per cent for a three-week period from Tuesday March 17 to Wednesday Apr 8, in response to the Covid-19 virus.

"Over the past week, Ryanair has seen a significant drop in bookings over that late March/early April period, in response to the Covid-19 virus.

"There has also been a significant step up in passenger no-shows on flights, particularly from and within Italy."

'TIME FOR CALM'

Ryanair said it is taking a series of measures in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

These include "rolling schedule cuts", allocating leave or paid leave to pilots and cabin crew, working with suppliers to cut costs and freezing recruitment, promotion and pay across its network.

CEO Michael O'Leary said: "Our focus at this time is on minimising any risk to our people and our passengers.

"While we are heavily booked over the next two weeks, there has been a notable drop in forward bookings towards the end of March into early April.

"It makes sense to selectively prune our schedule to and from those airports where travel has been most affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.

"This is a time for calm. We will make sensible cuts to our schedules over the comings weeks to reflect weaker bookings, and changing travel patterns.

"All affected customers will be advised of any schedule changes at least 14 days in advance.

"We will continue to comply fully with guidelines from National Governments, the WHO and EASA as they are updated on a regular basis."

Any passengers affected by the cancellations will be contacted by email today and the airline is also allocating annual leave and/or unpaid leave to pilots and cabin crew.

British Airways has also cancelled hundreds more flights because of the coronavirus.

This includes flights between Heathrow and New York's JFK airport, Italy, France, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Switzerland.

It has also cancelled flights between Gatwick and Italy, France and Albania, as well as London City flights to and from Germany and Italy.

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A British Airways spokesman said: "To match reduced demand due to the continuing coronavirus issue, we are merging a number of flights between March 16 and March 28.

"We will be contacting customers on cancelled flights so we can discuss their travel options, including re-booking onto other carriers where possible, full refunds or booking with BA for a later date of travel.

"Customers can also find the latest information and options on BA.com."

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