Passengers accuse Ryanair of giving incorrect travel testing advice for Italy

‘They emailed me stating that you can only enter Italy if you have a negative PCR test, which is incorrect,’ writes Reddit user

Passengers boarding a Ryanair flight (Getty Images)

A Ryanair customer has taken to social media to complain that the airline is giving out the wrong travel rules for Italy, increasing trip costs for customers and denying some passengers boarding.

In a Reddit post entitled “Urgent: Ryanair has told everyone the wrong entry requirements”, user /VeryLazyLewis wrote: “I am visiting family for Christmas. I have the pleasure of flying with Europe’s worst airline, Ryanair.

“They emailed me this morning stating that you can only enter Italy if you have [a] negative PCR test, which is incorrect.

“You can get a rapid test within 24 hours, too. The UK gov and Italian gov website state this as well and there are no emergency changes. We are both triple vaccinated.”

The Foreign Office advice for Italy currently states: “You must show evidence of a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours before entering Italy OR a negative antigen test taken within 24 hours before entering Italy”.

This advice is given for both fully vaccinated and unvaccinated travellers, though the latter also need to self-isolate for five days on arrival before doing another test.

Other passengers took to Twitter to complain about the discrepancy, with @Ste2larossi6 posting a screenshot of the rules sent out to Ryanair passengers.

In the screengrab, the alleged Ryanair rules state that travel rules for Italy changed on 16 December, and the test type and window allowed for pre-travel tests is different for EU countries and the UK and Northern Ireland.

For the UK, the rules say: “Only with PCR test taken within 48h to arrival”.

Customer Valeria Amodeo tweeted yesterday: “Very disappointed by @Ryanair!!! Despite everywhere is stated that people from UK can enter Italy with an antigen Covid test, they send emails saying that passengers can enter the county only with a PCR test within 48h! No matter the evidence you provide them.”

Italy’s Ministry of Health website lists the United Kingdom as being on “List D”, giving the following rules for countries on that list: “[Passengers must] undergo a molecular swab carried out within 72 hours prior to entry into Italy and the result of which is negative, or an antigenic test carried out within 24 hours prior to entry into Italy, the result of which is negative.

“In the case of arrivals from the UK and Northern Ireland and British Isles, the molecular swab must be taken in the 48 hours prior to entering Italy.”

This suggests that while the time window for a PCR test is shorter for UK travellers, both test types are permitted.

Another screenshot postWed to Twitter shows Italian language rules for arrivals to Italy, with the rules for countries on “List D” given as a PCR test taken within 72 hours or an antigen test taken within 24 hours.

On Reddit, Lewis claims that “lots of Italians are posting about being denied entry onto flights” on the Italian consulate website, adding that some who had insisted PCRs were not needed were eventually allowed to board.

“One person reported that in Luton, all the passengers protested and kept shouting [that] Ryanair were wrong, and they actually allowed them on the flight,” he wrote.

Lewis says he and his partner have already spent £600 on flights, accommodation, trains and Covid tests for the trip.

A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “Ryanair’s teams have been working hard to keep customers up to date with the latest travel restrictions, which update regularly across the 37 countries in which Ryanair operates.

“However, it is each customer’s responsibility to check the latest travel updates with the relevant local authorities before they travel.”