Holiday company sends cruise ships to pick up stranded Britons

Britain's biggest holiday company is sending cruise ships to the Mediterranean to bring stranded holidaymakers back home.

Tui Travel, which owns Thomson and First Choice Holidays, hopes to rescue 5,000 of the 40,000 Britons who have been stuck in resorts since the volcanic ash cloud closed UK airspace last Thursday.

Thomson's cruise ship the Island Escape will bring passengers home from Madeira; it is due to arrive in Falmouth, Cornwall on Thursday. Another Thomson cruise ship, the Thomson Dream, will take passengers from Majorca to Barcelona from where they will be ferried home.

The holiday company is also using a combination of coaches and ferries to rescue Britons stranded in Alicante and Malaga; for many it will involve a long trip home by road but they will be provided with overnight accommodation en route. They are expected to arrive back in the UK this week.

Holiday companies are giving passengers whose flights have been cancelled the option to rebook or, if they cannot find a suitable alternative, they are offering refunds and waiving cancellation fees.

Any holidaymakers who have booked packages should contact their travel agents or tour operators to find out what arrangements are being made. Under European Union package holiday regulations, holiday companies are responsible for taking care of customers stranded abroad.

Passengers who booked seats on cancelled flights should contact their airlines, which are likely to offer an alternative flight or the option to cancel with a full refund.

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