Laurence Dollimore
TUI has announced it will suspend all its holiday packages to Spain until August 9.
The measure will exclude the Canary and Balearic Islands, with flights to continue as normal to those destinations tomorrow.
The company said in a statement that those who had planned to travel between July 27 and August 9 may cancel or change their reservation, while those who have packages for August 10 onward will have to wait for news on July 31.
It comes after the travel giant cancelled almost all of its flights to Spain today.
The drastic move came after the UK announced on Saturday night a 14-day quarantine on all travellers returning from Spain.
“We are incredibly disappointed that we have had no further news of this announcement and that this decision was made yesterday, as many Britons are on vacation over the weekend,” TUI managing director Andrew Flintham told Reuters agency.
He added that he did not understand why the entire country was placed on the quarantine list after the British government previously advised that the risk of catching COVID-19 differed between regions.
Three flights were set to arrive in Malaga today, one from both Manchester and Birmingham, which were cancelled, and one from London, which managed to arrive.
All flights to Spain by TUI are now cancelled, apart from those travelling to the Canary or Balearic Islands.
Other airlines, however, have decided to forge ahead with their flights.
These include British Airway and easyJet, with both saying they will maintain their schedules for the time being.
Ryanair has yet to issue a statement with flights set to go ahead as planned.
Jet2, too, is believed to be maintaining its schedule although customers noticed it has removed its ‘no quarantine’ pledge from its website.
