TUI cancel holidays to Spain after country imposes measures to tackle COVID-19

TUI has cancelled all flights to Spain amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The tour operator announced they were axing flights to Spain between today and Monday after the country introduced local measures amid the coronavirus spread.

In a statement TUI said: “Following local measures put in place by the Spanish Authorities, including closing some hotel facilities and the local bars, restaurants and beaches we have made the difficult decision to cancel holidays due to travel between 14 and 16 March.

“Although there is currently no advice from the UK Government against travelling to Spain it would not be the holiday experience we would want for our customers.

“We will proactively contact all customers due to travel to Alicante between 14 March and 16 March to offer alternative holiday options or offer a full-refund. Any customers due to travel between 17 March and 23 March will be contacted about their holiday on Monday 16 March.”

The news comes after Jet2 also announced all flights to Spain would be cancelled.

The airline’s 0700 Glasgow to Alicante turned round in mid flight this morning.

It was among six Jet2 flights from Glasgow affected today, to Lanzarote (two), Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Fuerteventura.

TUI cancels all holidays to Spain after country introduces measures to control coronavirus spread

There have been 1,140 positive tests for coronavirus in the UK as of 9am today, up from yesterday’s figure of 798, the Department of Health and Social Care said.

Ten patients have died in England after testing positive for Covid-19, bringing the coronavirus death toll to 21 in the UK.

The death figure doubled from 11 to 21 in 24 hours, the largest number of deaths announced on a single day in the country since the outbreak took hold.

It comes as plans get under way to ban mass gatherings from next week as the Government looks to implement more extreme measures in the fight against Covid-19.

Boris Johnson has faced criticism for not taking such actions, despite similar steps being taken by other European countries as the pandemic worsens.