EasyJet cancels all flights and grounds all 330 planes indefinitely due to coronavirus

to shareholders, with a third of the payout going to founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

The airline also announced it has reached an agreement with union Unite on furlough arrangements for its cabin crew.

The deal will be effective from Wednesday for a two-month period and means cabin crew will be paid 80 per cent of their average pay through the Government job retention scheme.

EasyJet said in a statement: "As a result of the unprecedented travel restrictions imposed by governments in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the implementation of national lockdowns across many European countries, easyJet has, today, fully grounded its entire fleet of aircraft.

"Over recent days easyJet has been helping to repatriate customers, having operated more than 650 rescue flights to date, returning home more than 45,000 customers.

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FLIGHTS GROUNDED How to get a refund after easyJet cancels all flights

"The last of these rescue flights were operated on Sunday March 29. We will continue to work with government bodies to operate additional rescue flights as requested.

"At this stage there can be no certainty of the date for restarting commercial flights. We will continuously evaluate the situation based on regulations and demand, and will update the market when we have a view."

The Sun previously revealed easyJet’s pilots yesterday turned down the airline’s bid to tear up their contracts and adopt a ‘coronavirus cooperation agreement’.

The no-frills airline wanted crew and pilots to take three months unpaid leave as up to 3,000 staff face losing their jobs.

Foreign travel has plummeted across Europe as countries enforce travel bands to try and curb the spread of coronavirus.

On March 17, the Foreign Secretary announced Brits shouldn't travel anywhere outside the UK for at least 30 days to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Dominic Raab told the entire nation to stay put unless it is absolutely essential - cancelling all holidays and trips - as he updated the country's 

That same week, the EU said it would ban all external travel for a month to try to stop the spread of the virus.

The move to ground the planes comes just days after the airline's under-fire boss Peter Bellew was forced to make a second apology in two days after slamming the “ridiculous hype” surrounding coronavirus.

Speaking from Gatwick’s crew room, the airline chief said in a video to staff: “Despite all the ridiculous hype that is going on about the virus we had full first wave operating and great cooperation from the crew.”

He then told of the importance of all cabin crew reporting for duty despite the impact of the deadly virus.

Mr Bellew said: “While we have less passenger numbers we really need to focus on better on-time performance.

“I need everybody please to show up for work at the moment and inspire of all the ridiculous press coverage it is getting.

“We will do the safe thing by our customers and our staff.”

The airline has already launched their winter sale too, with £29.99 flights to Europe - despite the current uncertainty of how long the coronavirus pandemic will affect travel.

The flights are available for travel between 25 October 2020 and 28 February 2021.

The new flights are available for all passengers to book, but are also available for passengers who have had their current flights affected by the travel ban.

The new routes provide more options for people who need to move their flights to a later date.

With the flight change fee also waived, it means travellers have more choice of flight options to be able to move their current cancelled flights for their next holiday.

It is also the first time that easyJet flights have cost a flat fee of £29.99, including taxes and charges.