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TUI Airways has confirmed it is cancelling flights from the UK to three popular long-haul destinations.
From spring, the travel company will stop direct flights from London Gatwick to Costa Rica and Saint Lucia. As of next winter, the direct service from Birmingham to Florida’s Melbourne Orlando International Airport will also be scrapped.
Tui has been running winter flights to Costa Rica since Covid restrictions were lifted. Around 2.5 million tourists visit the Central American country each year, 50,000 of them from the UK.
But from April, Brits will no longer be able to take a direct 10-hour flight to Costa Rica’s Liberia Airport, which provides easy access to the country’s coastal resorts.
Instead, winter sunseekers will have to book a connecting flight, increasing travel time to up to 18 hours.
The only other airline operating direct flights to Costa Rica is British Airways, which flies three times a week non-stop from Gatwick to San Jose — but only in high season, between November and March.
Meanwhile, sunworshippers travelling to the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia will only have until May to catch a direct flight from Gatwick.
However, a TUI spokesperson confirmed they will continue to offer holiday packages using other airlines.
After speaking with TUI, Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) is confident the shake-up won’t cause a drop in tourist numbers.
SLTA Director UK & Europe Patricia Charlery-Leon said she is confident that flight coverage from British Airways and Virgin Atlantic from major UK airports will keep travellers coming.
She said: ‘With daily flights to the island with British Airways (six in the summer) from Gatwick airport and three flights a week on Virgin Atlantic from London Heathrow, Saint Lucia will remain well served from the UK market.’
Finally, there have been rumours of TUI’s direct flight from Birmingham to Melbourne Orlando being dropped in October.
Currently, the airline has not confirmed the axe. Rather, Travel Gossip noted TUI’s website only shows the route to be available via packages with indirect flights on third-party airlines.
This comes after Ryanair revealed it will be axing many European routes this year to reduce taxes and surcharges incurred for operating at airports across the continent.
The low-budget airline will no longer be offering flights to 12 popular Spanish hotspots, including Jerez, Zaragoza and Santander.
Plus, flights to popular holiday destinations like Italy, Denmark and France will also be impacted.
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