THREE popular winter sun destinations will no longer have flights with TUI Airways.
The tour operator is scrapping flights from the UK to Costa Rica, St Lucia and Orlando.
TUI flights to St Lucia are being scrapped from May[/caption]
And Brits heading to Costa Rica will now have to book connecting flights with TUI holidays[/caption]
The London Gatwick to Costa Rica route will be scrapped from April, according to Travel Gossip.
Last year, around 50,000 Brits visited Costa Rica, an increase of five per cent.
The current flight, which lands at Liberia Airport, is the only direct flight option from the UK.
Having only relaunched as a winter flight route post-pandemic (despite previously offering a summer flight schedule,) Brits will have to join a connecting flight instead.
This takes the flight time from around 10 hours to 18 hours.
Or, British Airways offers direct flights during the winter season from November to March, to San Jose Airport instead.
TUI’s St Lucia flights from London Gatwick will also stop from the end of May.
TUI first launched flights to St Lucia from both London Gatwick and Manchester airports in 2020.
However, Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) said that they would see the “same arrival numbers” with flights offered by other airlines.
They added: “With daily flights to the island with British Airways from Gatwick airport and three flights a weeks on Virgin Atlantic from London Heathrow, Saint Lucia will remain well served from the UK market.”
TUI will still be offering holiday packages to both St Lucia and Costa Rica, but flights will no longer be with TUI Airways.
And TUI also appears to have removed their Birmingham to Orlando flight route from October.
Sun Travel has contacted TUI for comment.
Last April, TUI scrapped it’s Manchester to Cuba direct service.
The Birmingham to Orlando flight route has also been scrapped from October[/caption]
But the tour operator has also launched a number of new flights.
Last year, TUI relaunched flights from Southampton for the first time in 15 years.
Other new flights include new routes from Cardiff to Fuerteventura, and to Luxor from both Manchester and London Gatwick.
And TUI has said more Brits are flocking to destinations like Egypt, Bulgaria and Albania with Spain being “full” this summer.
What do the TUI flight cancellations mean for Brits?
The Sun’s Head of Travel Lisa Minot weighs in:
TOUR operating giant TUI’s decision to slash flights to Costa Rica and St Lucia will be disappointing for fans of the tropical getaways.
But it’s no surprise the company is making changes to make the best use of its fleet.
As the world’s largest charter airline, it has 60 planes flying to more than 100 destinations worldwide from 17 UK airports.
The fleet includes 13 Boeing 787 Dreamliners used on their long-haul routes and getting the most out of these planes will be a priority.
TUI Belgium – part of the global TUI corporation – announced it was axing ALL its long haul routes from Brussels this month in an effort to cut flights that were not commercially viable.
The European carrier is said to be focusing its long haul aircraft on routes to Africa that are known to be more lucrative.
So there is every chance that although there will be less choice of flights to the Caribbean for the winter, some interesting new destinations could soon be announced for Brits too.
Sebastien Ebel, TUI Group chief executive, said: “In summer, there is high demand for Bulgaria, Tunisia and Egypt, so there are changes in demand patterns.
“Majorca will be full in summer, the Canaries are full in winter, but there is enough choice for customers to find the right vacation.”
TUI will still offer holiday packages to the destination but with third party airlines[/caption]
