LONDON: EasyJet on Monday said it was cancelling flights to and from the UK after high COVID-19 rates in Europe left the British airline with a lack of staff. It comes as the global aviation industry, despite recovering after lockdown curbs were lifted, has come up against a new costly headwind in the form of soaring fuel costs. EasyJet rival Ryanair on Monday revealed it expected to post a net loss of at least €350 million ($385 million) in its financial year just ended. That compared to a loss of at least €250 million in an earlier forecast made by the Irish carrier. EasyJet said separately that “as a result of the current high rates of COVID infections across Europe, like all businesses... (it) is experiencing higher than usual levels of employee sickness.” After canceling more than 200 flights over the weekend, EasyJet said it had preemptively canceled 60 for Monday. The airline noted that it was a “small proportion” of the more than 1,645 flights planned for the day.