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Daily Record
Daily Record
Lifestyle
Daniel Morrow

TUI cancels more holidays to Sri Lanka amid Foreign Office warnings not to go

TUI has cancelled more holidays to Sri Lanka amid political and economic instability in the country.

The airline had originally cancelled all flights and holidays up to June 12 - but this has now been extended to June 30.

Bosses are in the process of contacting affected customers to discuss their options.

News of further cancellations come as the Foreign Office continues to advise against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka.

The UK Government body referenced several violent incidents that have taken place across the country, which have resulted in injuries and loss of life.

TUI says customers who are currently in their resort can continue to enjoy their holiday as planned.

A spokesperson for 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 30 June 2022.

The Foreign Office says that there have been a number of violent incidents in the country, which have led to injury and loss of life (REUTERS)

“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.”

A state of emergency was declared in Sri Lanka earlier this year as local struggled to secure basic necessities - including medicines, cooking gas, fuel and food.

This was due to a shortage of hard currency to pay for imports.

Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt is said to be over 51 billion dollars and there are fears the country could be on the brink of bankruptcy.

Protests have been widespread in the country amid the dire economic situation.

The State of Emergency has since been lifted, however some military presence remains on the streets.

Foreign Office officials say that curfews may be imposed at “short notice”.

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