Travel column with Katie Butler of Total Travel: Travel disruption shows the value of support when plans change
It goes without saying that we have experienced another week of mayhem in the travel industry.
Much of our time has been spent assisting customers who were already overseas and needed help getting home, and secondly helping those whose holidays and flights have been cancelled due to disruption involving routes through the Middle East.
Our team has been assisting customers returning not just from the Middle East but also from destinations such as Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and even Australia. It has certainly kept us busy. While holidays are usually about relaxation and excitement, situations like this highlight just how complex travel can become when events beyond anyone’s control impact flight routes.
Despite the challenges, there is no better feeling than tracking flights late into the evening, knowing that your customers are finally on board and heading back towards the UK. Watching those flight trackers and seeing the aircraft touch down safely back on British soil provides a real sense of relief for everyone involved.
Of course, it is rarely straightforward. With thousands of passengers all trying to secure seats on alternative flights back to the UK, availability becomes extremely limited. Airlines are doing their best to add capacity or reroute services, but demand can be overwhelming. In some cases, travellers have had to be flexible with their journey home. For example, we had customers who managed to return via Frankfurt, staying overnight before catching a flight back into Manchester the following day. Not ideal, but sometimes the only option when seats are scarce.
For those due to travel imminently to destinations affected by these changes – or even travelling through impacted regions as part of a connecting journey – there are understandably many questions. Depending on your departure date and airline, you may be entitled to cancel your trip and receive a refund. However, policies vary between airlines and tour operators, so there is no single rule that applies to everyone.
The most important guidance always comes from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and their travel advice must be followed by airlines and holiday companies. At present, many airlines and tour operators are working on departures scheduled through to the early part of April, with decisions being reviewed on a rolling basis as the situation develops. For customers travelling on package holidays, there may also be options to reroute to your destination using alternative flight paths that avoid affected areas. It would be impossible to cover every scenario here, so the best advice for anyone with concerns about an upcoming trip is to speak directly with their travel provider or agent to understand the options available.
On a lighter note, last week we packed off Leanne, Karen and Georgia to attend the Jet2holidays VIP travel agent conference in Costa de la Luz. They flew out from Manchester on a special charter flight alongside other independent travel agents from across the UK and spent two nights at the beachfront Iberostar Andalucía Playa in the resort of Novo Sancti Petri. At the time of writing they are still mid-flight on their return journey, so I’m looking forward to hearing all about it and sharing the highlights with you in next week’s column.
As for bookings last week, it was something of a mixed bag. Unsurprisingly, cancellations were higher than usual due to trips affected by the current disruption. However, many customers chose to rebook rather than cancel completely. March 2026 was the top-selling departure month last week, accounting for 13 per cent of bookings, largely driven by those re-bookings. May followed closely behind with a 12 per cent share, while April took third place with 11 per cent.