TUI has cancelled several flights to Florida as a rare November storm batters the state.
Hurricane Nicole has made landfall on the east coast of Florida, hitting the state with strong winds, a dangerous storm surge and heavy rain. The rare November hurricane, which was downgraded to a tropical storm shortly after landfall, had already led officials to shut down airports and theme parks.
Nicole was a Category 1 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 75mph early on Thursday, the US National Hurricane Centre said. Nicole's centre is expected to move across central and northern Florida into southern Georgia on Thursday and into the evening, and into the Carolinas on Friday.
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Yesterday, flight TOM122 from Manchester to Melbourne Orlando was cancelled. Today, TUI cancelled a further flight, TOM664, from Birmingham to Melbourne Orlando. It is expected that the flights will now operate on Friday, November 11.
Flights from Melbourne to Manchester and Birmingham have also been rescheduled for Friday. In a statement, published on Wednesday, TUI said: "We have been closely monitoring the current tracked forecast of Tropical Storm Nicole, which is expected to make landfall in Florida on 9th November 2022.
"As a result, Melbourne-Orlando Airport is planning to close today. Unfortunately, this means flights TOM122 (Manchester to Melbourne) on Wednesday 9th November and TOM664 (Birmingham to Melbourne) on Thursday 10th November will not be able to go ahead as scheduled.
"We would like to reassure customers that our Airline Operations Team is working as quickly as possible on an alternative flight plan and at this time, it is expected that the flights will now operate on Friday 11th November. This is dependent on the track and impact of the hurricane.
"Customers who would like to change or cancel their holiday can contact our customer care team on 0203 451 2688.
"Our teams are also contacting customers due to return to the UK from Melbourne-Orlando Airport on 9th November on flight TOM123 (MLB-MAN) and 10th November on flight TOM665 (MLB-BHX).
"It is expected these flights will now operate on Friday 11th November, dependent on the track and impact of the hurricane and we are working to source overnight accommodation for these customers.
"For any TUI customers already in Florida, our resort teams are also on hand to provide support and we ask them to follow any advice issued locally. Customers can also contact our TUI team 24/7 on +4433 33 365 147.
"We are in close contact with Melbourne-Orlando Airport, and we will be updating customers as soon as we receive any further information. We apologise for the disruption to our customers’ holidays, and we would like to thank them for their understanding."
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