Travel giant Tui is starting to fly its stranded travelers home, Reuters reports.
– The first flights operated by Gulf Airlines are expected to depart today, says Tui's communications manager, Anne Mørk-Løwengreen, to Daily Newspaper.
The other charter companies are also reviewing the possibilities of getting their passengers home.
Several hundred Swedish charter travelers are stuck in the Middle East and Asia after the war in the Middle East broke out this weekend.
Travel companies Tui, Ving and Apollo are working to get their travelers home, but with closed airspace it is difficult.
Now Tui announces that the first of their customers may leave the region as early as today.
– Tui is in contact with the airlines we work with and the relevant authorities to clarify how we can get all our guests home as quickly as possible. The first flights operated by Gulf Airlines are expected to depart today. A decision must now be made on how further connections will resume, says TUI communications manager, Anne Mørk-Løwengreen, to Dagbladet.
Tui: Depends on which flight you are rebooked on
It is too early to say whether Swedish travelers are among those allowed to travel to Europe on Tuesday evening, according to Tui's Swedish press service.
– It depends on which flight you are rebooked on. So I can't say straight away exactly how many Swedes may be able to fly home today, or tomorrow, says Dian Valencia, communications manager for Tui Sweden.
Ving and Apollo are also looking at the opportunities available.
– It is a positive sign that in the last 24 hours, certain airlines have been able to gradually open up a very limited, but still a number of, flights from these closed airspaces. And that is why we have close dialogue with those airlines to look at possible solutions and are of course also following the situation closely to ensure that we get our guests home as soon as possible, says Anna Hagberg, press communicator at Ving.
Several hundred stranded – could be more
For Ving, there are 167 stranded passengers, 58 of whom are in Dubai and Doha and the remainder in various locations around the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia, transiting through the Middle East.
But the figure may change the longer the flight suspension lasts.
– That number will gradually increase. Because there are many who went down just a few days ago, but who then have a trip home and risk being stranded. There will be a domino effect of that, says Hagberg.
Travelers traveling with Ving and Apollo will have their expenses for extra food and accommodation covered by the companies. Ving customers are asked to collect receipts and submit them, and Apollo states that it is the company itself that arranges extra hotel nights for its customers.
– Then we don't have our own flights, we are completely in the hands of the airlines, who are in the hands of the airspace being closed, says Martina Krantz, communications officer at Apollo.
Source: Expressen.se
