TUI cancels flights hours after easyJet scraps more than 200 over half-term holidays

TUI airline has cancelled flights the day after easyJet scrapped 200 of its own flights, throwing half-term holiday plans into chaos.

German airline TUI has apologised this morning to angry customers who said their flights have been cancelled “with no information on what’s happening”.

The travel company said “various operational and supply chain issues” are to blame.

A TUI spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise for the inconvenience to customers who have experienced flight delays or a flight cancellation.

“Delays have been caused due to a combination of factors and we are doing everything we can to keep customers updated, and will provide refreshments and, where appropriate, provide hotel accommodation.

“Where we have made the difficult decision to cancel a small number of flights, customers will receive a full refund within 14 days and we will contact them directly to help them try and find another holiday.

“We would like to thank our customers for their understanding and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

One Twitter user received the update on cancellations after she tweeted the airline saying: “Absolutely disgraceful, in the airport a total of 14 hours with no communication whatsoever then be shipped off to a hotel and told our flights are cancelled miles away from our car.”

Another user tweeted: “Due to fly to Dalaman with TUI from Glasgow today at 17.55, flight cancelled with absolutely no info on what’s happening, in a hotel in Renfrew now….the lack of communication from TUI is horrific, never ever book with @TUIUK absolute shambles.”

The company have so far cancelled a total of six flights: three from Birmingham, two from Gatwick and one from Manchester.

It comes as competitor airline easyJet is set to cancel more than 200 flights over the next 10 days due to a software failure.

The airline said the cancellations would affect about 24 flights per day from London’s Gatwick airport between 28 May and 6 June.

A spokeswoman for easyJet said: “We are very sorry for the late notice of some of these cancellations and inconvenience caused for customers booked on these flights, however we believe this is necessary to provide reliable services over this busy period.

“Customers are being informed from today (Friday) and provided with the option to rebook their flight or receive a refund and can apply for compensation in line with regulations.”

“Over the next week we will be operating around 1,700 flights per day, with around a quarter of these operating to and from Gatwick.”

Elsewhere, Liverpool FC supporters travelling to the Champions League final and families embarking on half-term getaways faced long queues at the Port of Dover and UK airports.

Thousands of fans descended on the Kent port on Friday to board cross-Channel ferries en route to Paris for Saturday’s match.

Airline passengers were also stuck in lengthy queues at airports such as Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted and Bristol.

There is also high demand for sailings from families embarking on trips to the continent for half-term.

The port advised passengers to “pack adequate supplies including food and water” as it is expecting “a very busy week ahead”.