Lack of flights continues to hinder long-haul repatriation efforts

Long-haul tour operators continue to grapple with “challenging” repatriation efforts caused by the Middle East crisis, describing it as the most significant travel disruption since the pandemic.

Kuoni said it had doubled the size of its customer support team to help trade partners “round the clock”, while Major Travel has been operating its trade support phone line until 9pm, rather than 6pm as normal, in addition to offering its usual 24/7 WhatsApp support.

The US attacked Iran on February 28, with the Iranian response targeting locations including Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

More than 43,000 out of 78,500 flights scheduled in and out of the Middle East since February 28 have been cancelled up until yesterday (Tuesday), according to latest data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Major Travel managing director Qasim Gulamhusein said the operator had 42 travellers in the United Arab Emirates when the conflict broke out, as well as 87 people who were travelling on Middle Eastern airlines.

More: British Airways flights to and from Abu Dhabi cancelled until ‘later this year’

“It’s been non-stop since then,” he said. “The ticketing team and our crisis team have been working 13 or 14 hours a day.”

Gulamhusein, who said he went more than a week without a full night’s sleep, added: “It’s been a constant nightmare of booking flights, airlines cancelling, booking flights again, airlines cancelling and clients getting stressed in resort.

“We had a traveller stuck in the Maldives who had cancer treatment scheduled back home and luckily we got her back in time. Across the management team, we probably spent about 15 hours on that booking alone.”

On Monday, he said most travellers had already returned home or were due to return in the following two or three days.

Kuoni said the repatriation task had been “challenging”, citing “limited flight availability and rapidly changing conditions”.

Sarah Weetman, head of trade partnerships, said: “Our teams have been working round the clock to support travellers, secure return journeys and provide clear, personal guidance during a very unpredictable period.”

Tui said “a number of customers” were able to return to the UK at the weekend on repatriation flights organised by Tui Airways as part of wider Tui Group efforts. Across all markets, the flights served about 600 travellers.