TUI issues travel update as UK airport set to close

THE boss of TUI has issued a travel update for Brits heading abroad this winter.

Following the news that Doncaster Sheffield Airport will be closing permanently, the tour operator has confirmed when they will cease operations.

TUI managing director Andrew Flintham confirmed that flights will stop from the UK airport from November 4.

He said: "Our flights continue to operate as planned until our last flight on November 4, 2022.

"The airport has always been a popular and important regional airport for our valued customers and colleagues in the local area.

"We know how important regional airports are to the UK economy and we’ve always supported any proposals to keep the airport open.

"We’ve worked with Peel Group, the airport’s owners, and government throughout the consultation process to try and prevent this outcome."

He said anyone affected by the closure will be contacted by TUI regarding their flights.

He added: "We're working closely with our customers and colleagues on the required next steps.

"Customer communications will be sent to those impacted shortly and we will do everything we can to offer suitable, alternative roles to colleagues."

The closure of Doncaster Sheffield Airport will put 3,000 jobs at risk, as well as affect thousands of flights a year.

Aviation analytics firm  said it was the 26th biggest airport in the UK, recording 4,609 flights in 2019.

However, Wizz Air was one of the largest operators of the airport but pulled out earlier this year, leaving just TUI flights.

The most popular destinations that fly from Doncaster Sheffield are Tenerife and Lanzarote, as well as Bucharest.

And a survey in 2017 voted the airport as the best in the UK.

Chairman of Peel Airports Group Robert Hough explained the decision behind the closure: "The intractable problem remains the fundamental and insufficient lack of current or prospective revenue streams, together with the airport’s high operating costs."

Airlines are also suspending flights due to economic problems.

Wizz Air confirmed that nearly all flights from Cardiff Airport will be affected for the next six months, citing "economic pressures".

And UK airline Loganair - the largest regional airline in the country - confirmed that 300 flights are being scrapped between November 2022 and March 2023.