TUI cancels holidays to Spain, Greece and Cyprus until at least mid-June following green list chaos
TUI has cancelled more holidays until at least mid-June following the disappointing green list announcement yesterday.
The UK government added no new countries to the green list - despite hopes the Spanish and Greek islands could be included - and removed Portugal.
The UK tour operator has since cancelled trips to a number of amber list destinations until at least June 13 due to the ongoing travel uncertainty.
This includes:
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Greek islands Crete, Kefalonia, Santorini, Skiathos, Zante
- Italy
- Spain and the islands of Formentera, Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca and La Palma
They have also cancelled trips to Aruba, Jamaica and Tanzania.
It was hoped that holidays to the Spanish and Greek islands would be able to resume this month, if they were added to the green list.
Last month, the tour operator also cancelled holidays to Bulgaria, Egypt, Tunisia, Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Morocco until June 27.
Egypt and Costa Rica were moved from the amber list to the red list in last night's announcement as well.
Holidays to red-list Turkey has also been cancelled until the end of June as well.
TUI said they cancelled the holidays due to "ongoing uncertainty" over restrictions in the government's traffic light system.
They said: "All customers impacted by these cancellations will be contacted directly and will be able to request a full cash refund, or to change to a later date or alternative holiday and receive a booking incentive."
Portugal was one of the few destinations open to Brits, welcoming UK arrivals without quarantine.
The country was removed last night due to fears of a new "Nepal mutation" of the Indian variant detected in the holiday hotspot, which is feared could threaten the UK's vaccine success.
Jet2 has since extended their holiday and flight cancellations to July, although Ryanair said they will continue to operate.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of Advantage Travel Partnership, said Portugal being added to the amber travel list just weeks after the holiday hotspot reopened for British tourists was a "devastating blow".
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Clearly yesterday was an absolute blow, an absolute devastating blow for consumers and the industry of a really seismic scale now."
Asked if she feels the Government has let the industry down, she said: "Absolutely. I mean, the Government has completely moved the goal-posts from us overnight with no notice at all."
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Here is the full list of countries on the green list and amber list.
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The next travel update is expected to take place in three weeks - on June 28.
Here is everything you need to know about getting a refund for your Portugal holiday with airlines and tour operators.