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24th Dec 2020

Ryanair announces two last-minute rescue flights for eligible Irish citizens stranded in the UK on Christmas Eve

Conor Heneghan

Ryanair

Flights from Manchester and London will arrive in Dublin Airport later today.

For the third day in a row, Ryanair has announced that it has scheduled rescue flights for eligible Irish citizens currently stranded in the United Kingdom.

A Ryanair flight from Manchester Airport to Dublin will depart at 2.50pm on Thursday (24 December), while a flight from London Stansted will depart for Dublin at 5.15pm.

All seats on both flights are priced at €95 one way.

The flights have been organised in cooperation with the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs.

Eligible Irish citizens who wish to avail of the flight have been asked to contact the Department of Foreign Affairs on +353 1 6311700 or to send a direct message to Ryanair on Twitter for details.

A travel ban from the UK, in response to the identification of a new strain of Covid-19 in the south-east of England, has been extended in Ireland until 31 December as part of a return to Level 5 restrictions, which come into effect today.

Updated advice issued by the HSE means that anyone arriving in Ireland from the UK since 8 December is directed to undergo a period of 14 days of self-isolation.

This is stricter advice than had previously been issued because the new strain of Covid-19 spreads more easily than other strains of the virus.

Speaking on Wednesday, Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer of the HSE, said that people who have arrived in Ireland from the UK since 11 December (14 days before Christmas Day) should eat Christmas dinner in their room as part of the self-isolation measures and should only leave their room for essential reasons.

The Ryanair flights and other transport options arranged by the Department of Foreign Affairs to facilitate the return of Irish citizens from the UK to Ireland are limited to two specific categories:

  • International travellers to Ireland who are travelling through Great Britain
  • Irish people normally resident in Ireland, who are currently on short trips to Great Britain, and need to get back to Ireland within the next few days. This includes citizens who have travelled to Great Britain for emergency medical treatment.

More information on the UK travel ban is available on the Department of Foreign Affairs website here.