News

THOMSON and Somak Holidays have dropped their charter programmes to Sri Lanka this winter following Foreign Office advice to avoid holidays to the troubled island.

The move has put pressure on Monarch – the only British charter airline to Sri Lanka – to axe its twice-weekly flights from Gatwick and Manchester to Colombo, due to run from November to April. Monarch has a number of operators sharing the 374 seat Airbus A330, but with Thomson and Somak taking up more than half the capacity, the airline is considering whether it is worth continuing operating the flights.

A spokeswoman for Thomson said the decision to withdraw its programme was based of Foreign Office advice and the operator was not actively pushing holidays to Sri Lanka. Somak managing director Ash Sofat said the company, which contracted 100 seats on each flight, would review its programme for winter 2002/3.