Friday March 29th, 2024
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Thomas Cook To Suspend Flights To Sharm Until End Of October

Travel agency Thomas Cook will be suspending its flights to Egypt’s Sharm el Sheikh until the end of October.

Staff Writer

Travel firm Thomas Cook announces that it will be suspending flights to Sharm el Sheikh until the end of October, according to The Independent. This comes as shocking news as the travel ban was expected to be lifted at the end of May.

After the crash of Russian Metrojet Airbus A321-200 in Sharm el Shiekh in October, claiming the lives of 224 passengers, airports have been suspending their flights to the area. The terrorist act, which was claimed by ISIS, has caused great fear and skepticism among international governments and their airports.

Thomas Cook has stated that the reason behind the suspension of flights is because there has been "no clear indication as to when the FCO [Foreign and Commonwealth Office] travel advice may change," according to Evening Standard. The FCO had advised against flights to Sharm el Sheikh’s Red Sea airport, except for essential travel. 

In light of this, Thomas Cook stated that "we appreciate that this may be frustrating for our customers who have been looking forward to their holiday and we would like to assure them that we are doing our upmost to ensure that they are still able to enjoy a Thomas Cook holiday."

According to The Independent, Thomas Cook will be giving its customers who had booked travels to the area before the end of October the opportunity to either cancel their booking or change the destination free of charge.

The FCO has stated that flights to the resort will be resuming "as soon as appropriate security measures are in place." The FCO is currently working with the Egyptian government and cooperating with other travel firms in the hopes of enabling the resumption of flights.