Tui UK cancels flights to Spanish islands until 4 August
Package holiday firm Tui UK has today cancelled all of its holidays to the Balearic and Canary Islands until 4 August after the government’s decision to implement a mandatory quarantine on all travellers from Spain.
The tour operator had already cancelled all holidays to the Spanish mainland until 10 August.
Tui said the cancellations would be reviewed on 31 July, with more flights to be cut if the current travel advice stays in place.
Yesterday fellow holiday firm Jet2 announced similar steps, but cancellations to Spain’s islands will last until 10 August instead of 4 August.
Customers due to travel to all Spanish destinations between Sunday 26 July and Sunday 9 August will be able to cancel or amend their holiday and will be able to receive a full refund or the option to rebook their holiday with a booking incentive, Tui UK said.
Managing director Andrew Flintham said the government should follow Germany’s lead and introduce regional travel corridors, rather than blanket restrictions.
“We call upon the UK government to work closely with the travel industry and remove the ‘blunt tool’ approach to quarantine and consider the rapid introduction of regional travel corridors”, he said.
“The level of uncertainty and confusion created this week is damaging for business and customer confidence in travel.”
Unlike the UK, Germany has instead warned its citizens against all non-essential travel to the regions of Catalonia, Navarre and Aragon, where the surge in infections has been strongest.
According to Flintham, the change of travel advice for Spain has led 70 per cent of those with cancelled holidays simply changing destination.
As a result, Tui has added seven new flights for this weekend to Crete, Rhodes, Zante and Corfu in Greece and Dalaman and Antalya in Turkey.
It has also changed some flights from the 737 aircraft to 787 Dreamliners to help with the additional demand.
“The summer holiday period is the most important time of year for travel operators and we are therefore doing everything we can to help customers get their well-deserved holiday”, he added.