The budget airline said grounding aircraft removed “significant cost” and would help mitigate the impact from the coronavirus.

The company said it had operated more than 650 rescue flights in recent days, returning home more than 45,000 customers.  The last of these rescue flights was on Sunday 29 March.  It said it would continue to work with government bodies to operate additional rescue flights as requested.

EasyJet chief executive, Johan Lundgren, said: “I am extremely proud of the way in which people across EasyJet have given their absolute best at such a challenging time, including so many crew who have volunteered to operate rescue flights to bring our customers home.

“We are working tirelessly to ensure that EasyJet continues to be well positioned to overcome the challenges of coronavirus.”

EasyJet and the union Unite have collaboratively reached an agreement on furlough arrangements for its cabin crew.

The agreement will be effective from 1 April for a period of two months and means that crew will be paid 80% of their average pay through the government job retention scheme.