FCO advises against all travel ‘indefinitely’ over pandemic

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) have now advised against all non-essential travel, to any country in the world “indefinitely.”

The FCO said on Twitter, “Travel update: The Foreign Office indefinitely advises against all non-essential global travel.”

Adding, “The situation is changing rapidly. Travellers could face severe disruption and be unable to return to the UK.“

Various airlines and tour operators are still selling holidays, Tui are offering a range of holidays to leave on 2 May and easyJet are selling flights for 1 May.

Tui said of their holidays “Should the advice be extended, we will proactively contact affected customers to discuss their options and take holidays off sale.”

EasyJet told The Times, they have an “ongoing rolling cancellation programme in place and is working through these having taken April off sale.”

A spokesperson for UK travel trade association Abta said, “Although the advice has now changed for an indefinite period, this is now in essence the same as any ‘all but essential’ travel advice and it could be removed at any time.

“As such, there is no change to the advice for members and customers in this regard. Travel companies can still look at imminent departures and decide how far in advance they will begin to offer alternative arrangements, refunds or equivalent options.”

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou the founder of easyJet has warned that the airline “run out of money by around August.”

Last week easyJet grounded its entire fleet of aircraft until further notice, due to “unprecedented” travel restrictions across the globe, the airline said.