JET2 WARNS BRITONS TO RETURN FROM SPAIN EARLY OR FIND THEIR OWN WAY

Sky News 30 July 2020

Jet2 has warned some of its customers in Spain that they should return to the UK earlier than planned or risk having to make their own way home.

© PA

The travel firm is suspending flights and holidays to Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza up to and including 9 August.

Flights to mainland Spain had already been cancelled and the company is operating empty outbound flights to bring customers home until 3 August.

A spokeswoman said: "We are contacting customers who are currently in these destinations to advise them of their options regarding flying back to the UK.

"We appreciate that some of our package holiday customers were due to stay on holiday for longer than this and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.

"It is important to note that we are responding to a very fast-moving situation with updates coming from the government with little or no notice, and we have had to make decisions about our programme accordingly.

"We can assure these customers that we will be in touch with them to resolve any issues that they may have."

Travellers returning to the UK from Spain will have to isolate for 14 days, but government advice was that they did not need to leave the country ahead of schedule.

The UK is advising against non-essential travel to Spain, including the Balearic and Canary Islands.

Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said holidaymakers have been caught in a "tug of war" between government advice and travel company policies.

He said: "The government had said people on holiday in the Balearic and Canary Islands don't need to return early, but Jet2 has decided that they should.

"Jet2 must now urgently clarify whether this is a requirement or a choice, and make it clear to customers whose package holiday has been cancelled what their rights are to a partial refund for the remainder of their trip."