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Ryanair hopes to fly up to 70pc of 2019 passenger numbers this summer, thanks to Covid-19 vaccines and more coronavirus testing, provided travellers who have been vaccinated or had negative tests are made exempt from quarantine rules.

Speaking before a British parliamentary committee yesterday, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary also warned that a mooted vaccine passport is unlikely to be ready in time for the peak hol iday season.

"We would be hopeful that we could fl y maybe 60pc , 70pc of our normal  traffic volumes  during the peak summer months... June, July, August and September," he said. "That's about as optimistic as its going to get."

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is “missing the point” by excluding closed restaurants that are having to rely on takeaway services to generate income from the Government’s  Stay and Spend scheme, tax experts have said.

Launched as part of last July’s stimulus package and valued at €270m, the scheme is aimed at getting people to spend more on domestic tourism and hospitality. It allows for customers to spend up to €625 in restaurants and hotels and reclaim the money through a tax credit from Revenue.

However, due to lockdown restrictions, the scheme has effectively been mothballed with only €1.6m claimed back, to date.

Minister Donohoe is currently reviewing a possible extension of the scheme beyond the end of April. This has been welcomed, but a wholesale overhaul of the project is also been urged.

Cork Airport is facing an extended closure later this year to facilitate a major runway reconstruction project.

The airport is expected to close to all fixed-wing aircraft operations for several weeks during the works, which it is hoped will be complete by the end of the year.

Management at Cork Airport has declined to comment in detail on the closure of its single jet-capable runway, or on the duration of the airport closure, but it said it does not envisage any impact on the operation of search and rescue helicopter missions.

 

Ireland has dropped six places in the global rankings for most attractive work destinations over the last three years, according to a new data from IrishJobs.ie.

It now stands at number 32, down thirteen places since the first study was carried out in 2014.

Dublin has also suffered a fall in the rankings for most attractive cities, slipping to 36th place in 2020 compared to 34th in 2018.

That is down 12 places since the city rankings were first published in 2014, where it was positioned at number 24.

The survey, which was conducted in partnership with Boston Consulting Group and the Network, polled a total of 209,000 workers across 190 countries, including 824 employees in Ireland.