TUI has cancelled more flights and holidays to Sri Lanka after the country declared a nationwide state of emergency.
On Tuesday, the president of Sri Lanka fled the country, slipping away in the middle of the night hours before he promised to step down under pressure from protesters angry over a devastating economic crisis that has triggered severe shortages of food and fuel.
The UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advises against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka, forcing TUI to cancel more fights and holidays. TUI had originally cancelled Sri Lanka holidays until July 18 , but now the travel firm has confirmed it is extending this policy through to July 31.
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In a statement, TUI said: "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 31 July 2022.
"We will be proactively contacting all impacted customers in departure date order to discuss their options. Please note this advice does not apply to customers transiting through Sri Lanka’s international airport and customers currently in resort can continue to enjoy their holiday as planned.
"We will continue to monitor the situation and update customers should there be any further updates. We would like to thank our customers for their understanding at this time."
Thousands of protesters moved into president Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office on Wednesday after seizing other government buildings in recent days. Groups could be seen scaling the wall and entering the office as the crowds roared in support, cheering them on and waving the Sri Lankan flag.
The prime minister's office declared a nationwide state of emergency and imposed a curfew in part of the country. Corruption and mismanagement have left the island nation laden with debt and unable to pay for imports of basic necessities. The shortages have sown despair among the country's 22 million people.
Sri Lankans are skipping meals and lining up for hours to try to buy scarce fuel. The political impasse added fuel to the economic crisis since the absence of an alternative unity government threatened to delay a hoped-for bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
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