5 2
Operation repatriation: Operators have been praised by agents for their handling of the repatriation of UK customers from Egypt. Thomas Cook representatives met customers as they arrived back in Britain and even provided buggies for families who were forced to leave non-hand-luggage items in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Security has been stepped up at Sharm airport
3 STORIES HOT
Tunisia continues to stress it has tightened security
Tunisia’s tourism director admitted the crash in Egypt had dashed hopes of travel restrictions being lifted in the near future, but remained “optimistic” the country’s tourism industry would recover. Abdellatif Hamam said the UK
‘Britons would pay more for better security’
Hollie-Rae Merrick
hollie@travelweekly.co.uk
Agents believe customers would accept paying more for improved security at some international airports, as demanded by the boss of easyJet this week.
Carolyn McCall (pictured), the
budget carrier’s chief executive, would not name airports she believed needed to step up security levels, but said it was time to rethink policies. Her comments
followed a call from foreign secretary Philip
Hammond for a review of airport security. McCall said:
“It’s not a blanket message – it’s a specific message about certain airports”
“In some airports, security is very tight. British airports do security very well. “But I think Philip Hammond
is right to point out that there are other countries that airlines fly to where it perhaps needs to be tightened. “Everybody would agree with
that. It’s not a blanket message – it’s a specific message about certain airports. This will be a global
thing, not just an Egyptian
or a North
African thing.” Neil Basnett, chairman of Elite
Neil Basnett
Travel Group, said: “It does put the spotlight on security worldwide. There will likely be additional security measures introduced. “These costs will be passed
on to the airline and then on to the customer. But if it’s a choice between paying an extra £5 or being at risk, I think we know which one the public will choose.” Andy Cooper, former director-
general of the Federation of Tour Operators, said UK customers were less resilient than previously. “Potentially, incidents such as this could put customers off, but I think it’s likely that security will be increased,” he said. “In the past, there have been some knee- jerk reactions by government to security, so only time will tell.” Aito chairman Derek Moore said
increased security was inevitable. “Following the Sharm situation, we will probably all be grateful for this, even if we find the delays tedious,” he added.
12 November 2015
travelweekly.co.uk 5
and Tunisia had been working “hand in hand” to improve security since the terrorist attack in Sousse this summer that killed 30 Britons. Speaking at WTM last week, Hamam said the country had been lobbying the UK to ease travel restrictions and was making the case that the country was safe and ready to welcome visitors again. But he added that operators and agents needed “concrete and credible” information from the Tunisian government, which is endorsed by the UK, to begin promoting the country again. “It is clear that what happened in Egypt is not helping us to progress with our aim to reduce the restrictions,” said Hamam. “We continue to invest our
energy to convince our UK partners to do something to support Tunisia, and we remain optimistic.” Since the Russian aircraft
crashed in Egypt, Tunisia has stepped up security measures at airports and on aircraft.
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