Budget carrier Ryanair is to start flying to Bucharest, Sofia and Porto from Stansted this month.
The airline has announced a three times weekly service to Bucharest and Sofia staring May 15 and a daily service to Porto from May 22.
The three new routes are in addition to a limited flying programme offering links to Dublin, Eindhoven, Lisbon, Cork, Berlin and Budapest to May 28.
With over 99% of Ryanair’s fleet grounded due to restrictions imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic, the firm said it will comply with government guidelines.
It said it is working with EU Governments “to try to keep some minimum flight links open for emergency reasons, even though the passenger loads on these flights is very low”.
Alejandra Ruiz, Ryanair senior communications manager, said: “We are pleased to add these routes connecting London Stansted with Bucharest and Sofia and Porto as we work with EU Governments to try to keep some minimum flight links open for emergency reasons, even though the passenger loads on these flights is very low.
“Our current limited schedule continues to maintain vital links across Europe to facilitate our passengers and their families to deal with emergencies that may require urgent travel over the coming days and weeks.
“All the aircraft are disinfected daily and we ask all passengers to cooperate fully with our crews who are doing their best in difficult times. At this time, we expect scheduled flights to return sometime in July.
“We support the action taken by EU Governments to combat the virus, and we now hope there is a coordinated plan to lift travel restrictions when Europe is ready to return flying once COVID-19 is defeated, which will hopefully be sooner rather than later.
“Until then let’s all take care of ourselves, each other, our families and our communities.”
