Thomas Cook is cancelling all scheduled flights to one of the most popular holiday destinations in the world

pulse

May 11, 2017 10:52 AM

Customers are being offered a refund or a destination change free of charge.

Thomas Cook has cancelled all of its scheduled flights to Egypt's Sharm El Sheikh, currently one of the most desirable holiday destinations in the world based on research compiled by Airbnb and Pinterest, amid terror fears.

On Wednesday, a statement from the company confirmed that its five flights per week to Sharm El Sheikh have been cancelled. Customers are being offered a refund or a destination change free of charge.

This includes flights from its Winter 2017/18 and Summer 2018 holiday and flight programmes.

Britain briefly suspended flights to Sharm at the end of October 2015, after a Russian-operated flight from Sharm el Sheikh to St Petersburg crashed in North Sinai, killing 224 people on board.

Although the investigation into the crash is ongoing, Russian authorities stated that the crash was caused by an explosive device on board the flight.

"The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office continue to advise against travel to Sharm El Sheikh airport, and we have no plans to reintroduce a programme to Sharm until after that advice changes," the company said on Wednesday.

This is despite the fact that 231,000 British nationals visited Egypt in 2016, most with a trouble-free experience, according to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office's .

However, to keep up with demand Thomas Cook said that it is adding two flights per week to the Red Sea resort of Marsa Alam from November this year.

"The resort of Hurghada on the Red Sea is popular with customers for this summer and the winter ahead," the statement read.

The Travel Advice site states that the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office "will continue working with the Egyptian Authorities to enable regular flights between the UK and Sharm el Sheikh to resume."

"We are also liaising with travel companies so that they are able to resume flights and holidays in Sharm el Sheikh as soon as appropriate security arrangements are in place," it adds.

pulse