TUI cancels more flights to holiday hotspot until August

TUI has been forced to cancel more flights until August 15 due to ongoing unrest in a popular holiday destination.

Sri Lanka remains on the UK's travel ban list, resulting in the tour operator having to cancel more holidays.

TUI said in a statement on their website: "Due to the ongoing political and economic instability in Sri Lanka, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) have advised against all but essential travel.

"As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel all holidays to Sri Lanka departing up to and including 15 August 2022.  

"We will be proactively contacting all impacted customers in departure date order to discuss their options."

TUI confirmed that passengers transiting through Sri Lanka would not be affected by the flight cancellations.

The tour operator has been forced to cancel the trips for weeks, and said they will "continue to monitor the situation".

The UK government has put Sri Lanka back on the travel ban list, stating: "The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advises against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka, due to the impact of the current economic crisis."

The current crisis has been caused by a number of factors, including a drop in tourism during the Covid pandemic, as well as huge tax cuts and massive debts to other countries such as China, while protests started following a 13-hour daily power cut introduced back in March to save energy.

Sri Lanka was placed onto the travel ban list earlier this year, only for the UK government to lift the restrictions last month.

The cancellations are yet another blow for Brits wanting to go on holiday this summer.

Ryanair, easyJet and British Airways are amongst the most popular airlines to cancel flights this summer.

Ryanair staff will be going on strike in 10 Spanish airports - Madrid, Malaga, Barcelona, Alicante, Sevilla, Palma, Valencia, Girona, Santiago de Compostela and Ibiza - after demanding a higher pay and better working conditions.

Their final strike this month will take place from July 25 to July 28.

EasyJet staff are also planning a strike from from July 29 till July 31, affecting Barcelona, Majorca and Malaga.

And until October, British Airways has cancelled up to 16,000 while a further 650 cancellations will be affecting about 100,000 passengers.