The warning released by the Foreign Office against overseas travel indefinitely has led to Britain’s second-biggest holiday company Jet2 to cancel all flights and holidays up to mid-June. They say the decision was made due to the ongoing uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Leeds based company said that they have decided to recommence their flights and holidays programme on 17 June.
In a statement, it said:
“Due to the ongoing uncertainty caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we’ve decided to recommence our flights programme on 17 June 2020. If you’re travelling before this date, unfortunately, your booking will be affected as our flights won’t be operating.
“We’re contacting all affected customers about their options, including how to amend bookings to a later date, so if you were due to travel before 17 June 2020, we’ll be in touch. We know just how much a well-deserved getaway means to you and how much it gives you something to look forward to, particularly during difficult times such as these.
“We’re continuing to operate a fully-staffed call centre but the number of calls we’re currently receiving is unprecedented and more than we can handle. Therefore, we’re proactively contacting all affected customers in departure date order, which we think is the fairest way. Please be patient with us as we do this and remember that we’ll get in touch with you.”
Jet2 are offering entitled customers a full refund within 14 days as stipulated by the Package Travel Regulations. Jet2 will contact all passengers booked to fly before 17 June to discuss their options, one of which is rebooking their holiday to a later date.
Easyjet is also contacting their customers whose flights have been cancelled to offer a refund or to change their date of travel for free.
Other travel companies are finding it hard to confirm with this deadline due to cashflow difficulties. Travel trade association, Abta is lobbying to have the refund deadline extended.
