Thomas Cook

[kevin3]

 It's reported today that Thomas Cook has pulled almost  1 million flights from Turkey, almost one third of it's Turkish capacity.
 Will others follow.?   

[patrice]

Lets hope not I. Yesterday I booked flights with Monarch for later in the year when selecting seating there were only 10 seats allocated.

[JohnF]

If the same thing happens with Monarch that is happening to the "big two" then it may be worth having a plan b.  This was in the Independent on Friday, nothing really new but confirms what Kevin posted:

However, Thomas Cook expects sales to Turkey to fall by almost 30 per cent this summer, after the terrorist attack in Istanbul last month led to a sharp drop in bookings. Turkey usually attracts around  a fifth of Thomas Cook’s customers and the company has cut capacity accordingly, even though it said that there were already signs of bookings recovering.

Its rival Tui Group reported a 40 per cent fall in bookings to Turkey earlier this week and said tourists were shifting to Spain, the Canary Islands and Greece.

JF

[DonM]

Lets hope not I. Yesterday I booked flights with Monarch for later in the year when selecting seating there were only 10 seats allocated.

There were only six PAX on our Monarch flight when flew Gatwick to Dalaman on the 30th October last year. It was full on the return flight though.

[Somerset Simon]

Just checked the different flights booked across the family using TCA, and although no notification received from TCA yet, the Brıstol Saturday evening flight has gone and looks like the bookings will be moved to the Friday afternoon. So probably better than I feared as 3 of the previous 4 weekly TC flights remain at the moment!

[Scunner]

I can't see how the terrorist attack has caused a 30 or 40% drop in bookings. The HSBC/British Consulate bombings of 2003 were more widely reported in the UK (due to the target I guess) and the season remained strong.

[Highlander]

TCA are still sending me offers from Glasgow to Dalaman by email.

[Scunner]

They must like what you offer  

[JohnF]

The HSBC/British Consulate bombings of 2003 were more widely reported in the UK (due to the target I guess) and the season remained strong.

They happened in the November of 2003 and there was a definite downturn in tourism in the following months.  I can specifically remember being in the Grand Bazaar in February 2004 - it was like a ghost town.  It may not have affected the 2004 season down south but Istanbul suffered a distinct drop in tourists that Spring.

JF

[Scunner]

Agreed, so why is it affecting "down south" this time?