TUNISIA-SECURITY/TUNISIA AIRPORT Britons leave Tunisia after UK issues safety warning

Record ID: 147683

  • Title: TUNISIA-SECURITY/TUNISIA AIRPORT Britons leave Tunisia after UK issues safety warning
  • Date: 10th July 2015
  • Summary: ENFIDHA AIRPORT, TUNISIA (JULY 10, 2015) (REUTERS) ENFIDHA AIRPORT TUNISIAN FLAGS FLYING OUTSIDE AIRPORT BUS DRIVING PAST AIRPORT TOURISTS WAITING TO ENTER AIRPORT SIGN READING (English and Arabic): "Departures" TOURISTS GETTING OFF BUS THOMAS COOK SIGN ON BUS TOURISTS GETTING OFF BUS TOURISTS WALKING TO DEPARTURES ENTRANCE VARIOUS OF LUGGAGE GIRL SITTING IN STROLLER TOURI
  • Embargoed: 25th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Tunisia
  • Country: Tunisia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA642BQ0ADEQXZYIT6CXWYGGZV1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Britons headed to Enfidha Airport in Tunisia on Friday (July 10) as they prepared to leave the country in their masses.
    Britain's Foreign Office (FCO) advised against all but essential travel to Tunisia on Thursday (July 9), telling Britons to leave the North African country and warning that further terrorist attacks were "highly likely" there.
    According to one tourist at the airport, Northern Ireland resident Christian, Britons were told to leave Tunisia before Sunday (July 12).
    "Now we have no choice. If we don't go home, the British government won't fly us home after Sunday; you stop at your own risk," Christian said.
    "We were supposed to not go home until next Wednesday, but they cut us off and told us we had to go out by Sunday. So, because obviously, first it was announced on the British news that they had declared the security inadequate and that a further review of the situation by the British government had said that all British patriots needed to return home. If you don't go by Sunday, you have no flight," he added.
    Thomas Cook said in a statement on Thursday it was working to bring home 2,000 British and Irish guests currently at its resorts in Tunisia on 10 flights scheduled for the weekend.
    Various flights to Manchester and London were scheduled for Friday, with "rescue flights" added to the flight roster to make sure all British nationals could leave the country at short notice.
    Both Thomas Cook and TUI, which operates Thomson and First Choice holidays, said they had cancelled all future bookings to the country up until the end of October. TUI said it did not currently have any customers in the country.
    Thomas Cook said there would be no compensation for tourists like Christian who had to cut their holidays short.
    "It was our choice to come. We were happy with the security, we paid for the holiday. We were given that option beforehand, we would have preferred to stay. We've paid for the holiday, now we have no compensation. Thomas Cook have been very poor, no communication. The reps at the hotel have been good, but the Thomas Cook in England is terrible," Christian lamented.
    Tunisia has been on high alert since the attack in the resort of Sousse two weeks ago.
    A total of 38 people, among them 30 Britons, were killed when Islamist Saif Rezgui opened fire on holidaymakers on a beach on June 26.
    In another attack on tourists in the country, two gunmen in March killed 24 people, 21 of them foreigners, in an attack at the Bardo museum in the capital Tunis.
    Christian said that the British government's warning amounted to letting the militants win.
    "These people shouldn't be allowed to ruin the country and its tourism," he said.
    Another couple waiting to fly home from Enfidha said they had arrived in Tunisia on the day of the Sousse attack. They chose to stay and enjoy their holiday even though they were given the option of cancelling it.
    "We decided to stay and have two weeks' holiday. We've been out and about, not stayed in the hotel," said Lisa Allin, a London resident.
    "We didn't find it dangerous at all. The police were there and that's it, they done their jobs. And that was it, there was no problem with nothing," added her husband, Mr. Allin.
    The cancellation of holidays to Tunisia could prove costly for TUI and Thomas Cook.
    Holidays in North Africa account for about 10 percent of their total passengers, with Tunisia about a third of that.
    Shares in the two tour operators have fallen over the last two weeks, hurt mainly by the deadly attack on tourists at Sousse and the cost of cancellations and rebooking.
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