John Holland-Kaye: Travellers must be 'desperate and wealthy'
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Flights have been cancelled in droves during the course of the coronavirus pandemic. It can be very hard to keep up with what each individual’s airline’s policy is. To help make things clearer, these are the latest updates from TUI, British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair and Jet2.
TUI
TUI has cancelled all flights and holidays until the second week of March due to the Covid crisis.
On the TUI website, flights can only be booked from March 8 onwards.
The latest airline statement says: “Due to the impact of COVID-19 and travel restrictions in place all TUI holidays up to and including March 7, 2021, have been cancelled.
“Customers will be contacted in departure date order to discuss their options, which will include amending to another holiday with an incentive or cancelling and receiving a full refund.”
“We will constantly review our holiday programme in line with updated travel advice.”
After it was announced this week that hotel quarantine would come into force for arrivals from 33 countries from Monday, TUI said: “We’re aware of the Government’s announcement regarding mandatory hotel quarantine for arrivals to the UK from ‘red list’ countries from February 15.
“As we’re currently not operating, we’re working through what this means for our holiday programme and we’ll be contacting any impacted customers as soon as we have more information.”
British Airways
BA is operating a “reduced and dynamic” flight schedule as a result of the ongoing travel restrictions.
“If your flight has been cancelled, we will contact you with your options. Alternatively, you can rebook or claim a voucher online,” explains the British Airways website.
Following the hotel quarantine news, BA shared the following update: “We are aware of the UK Government’s announcement on further measures at the UK borders, including hotel-isolation requirements for arrivals from some destinations.
“For more information on these measures, which are due to begin on February 15, please visit the UK Government’s website.
“If you have an existing booking, our book with confidence commitment gives you the flexibility to change or cancel your plans if you need to.”
easyJet
easyJet flights continue to operate but they will be on a reduced schedule.
The easyJet website explains: “If part/all of your trip is cancelled, you will be notified directly via email and will be informed of your options.
“[These] include switching to an another easyJet flight for free (this includes the option to select a different arrival and departure airport within the same country of the original booking if you wish), choosing a voucher for the value of your ticket or requesting a refund, all of which you will be able to manage yourself online via Manage bookings on easyJet.com or on the easyJet app.”
The latest update from easyJet, posted at the end of January, states: “We are planning to operate as many flights as possible over the coming days.
“Due to a number of governments imposing travel entry bans on flights arriving from certain countries, or imposing travel restrictions on passengers who are non-residents or non-citizens of the respective countries, we appreciate the uncertainty this may be causing you and understand that you may wish to change your travel plans.”
easyJet said the same for flights affected by other countries imposing quarantine restrictions and countries across their network imposing national and regional lockdown restrictions.
Customers who no longer want to fly on their booked dates are able to switch to another easyJet flight for free, choose a voucher for the full value of your ticket or request a refund.
Ryanair
Ryanair flights are still operating but the carrier has made the decision to slash capacity through until April.
Airline bosses have pointed to a drop in foot traffic as the main reason why they have cancelled flights.
In a press release, the airline stated there will be “few if any, flights being operated to or from Ireland or the UK from the UK from the end of January until such a time as these draconian travel restrictions are removed”.
The cutbacks will also see the airline dropping its full-year traffic forecast from “below 35 million” to between 26 million and 30 million.
Customers who are impacted by cancellations will be contacted “as soon as possible” by email or text message.
Those who have had their flight cancelled by the airline will be able to select from two options, including a refund.
However, those who simply no longer wish to fly will not be able to access a refund. Instead, they will have the option to move their flight to a later date free of charge.
Today, Ryanair announced it is launching its Winter 21/22 schedule, covering its most popular destinations for trips taking off from late October.
Routes include Cyprus, Gran Canaria, the Greek islands, Sicily and Malaga, Turin, Milan and Salzburg, Lisbon, Paris, Venice and many more.
Jet2
Jet2.com cancelled all flights up until April 14, it was announced yesterday.
This is an extension on the previous March end-date for cancelled flights and holidays.
Additionally, travel to Iceland is suspended until April 26.
Customers will be contacted directly by Jet2 and automatically issued with a refund equal to the amount paid.
“If you’re due to travel from April 15, 2021, onwards, we’ll provide an update closer to the time,” explained Jet2.
Yesterday, Jet2 announced more flights and holidays to Antalya, Turkey in March 2022 “due to demand from holidaymakers and golfers.”
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