MONDAY ASH ALERT â€“ TUI mounts massive rescue effort

Friday, 19 Apr, 2010 0

Cruise ships, coaches and ferries will be used by Thomson and First Choice parent TUI Travel to bring stranded holidaymakers home.

The company aims to transport home 5,000 out of 40,000 passengers stuck abroad due to the volcanic ash cloud which has closed UK airspace since Thursday.

Thomson ship Island Escape, currently on a fly-cruise in Funchal, Madeira, will bring passengers directly back to the UK.

The vessel is due to arrive in Falmouth in Cornwall Thursday.

Extra spaces on board the ship has enabled more than 300 other Thomson holidaymakers in Madeira whose flights had been cancelled to be repatriated back to the UK.

From Falmouth, people will then be transferred by coach back to their original UK departure airport.

The newly introduced Thomson Dream ship is also being used to transfer holidaymakers from Majorca to Barcelona from where onward travel will be arranged.

Some stuck in Alicante will travel via coach to Northern France where overnight accommodation will be provided. They will then travel via ferry tomorrow (Tuesday) back to the UK and onto their original UK departure airport.

Others in Malaga will be driven by coach to Costa Brava where overnight accommodation will be provided. The coaches will continue on Tuesday morning to Northern France where people will travel by ferry on Wednesday back to the UK.

The company is trying to source further coaches to repatriate more people and as soon as these are confirmed, holidaymakers will be updated.

All travellers overseas are being accommodated in hotels, the majority on an all inclusive basis with the remaining on half board, and resort teams are working hard to keep them informed with the latest information, the company said.

Managing director Dermot Blastland said: “Our customers are our number one priority at all times and we felt it was necessary to take action now given the current uncertainty surrounding air travel.

“Our teams have been working around the clock to put this plan in place so that our customers can return home to their families without any further delay.”

*Counting the cost of ash disruption – see separate story.

by Phil Davies

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Phil Davies

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