British leisure airline TUI has canceled its services to La Palma for an extended period due to the ongoing disruption being caused by the Cumbre Vieja volcano. The volcano began erupting in September this year, and is still very active today. The airline has canceled its flights until February 10th, 2022.
TUI takes a long holiday from La Palma
UK holiday airline TUI has pulled all its services to and from the island of La Palma for several weeks. The airline stated today that it would not return to the destination until February 10th, 2022, as a result of ongoing disruption caused by the eruption of a volcano on the island.
In a statement on its website, TUI said,
"Due to the ongoing situation we’ve unfortunately had to cancel all flights to La Palma departing up to and including 10 February 2022. All impacted customers will be contacted directly to discuss their options.
"The next scheduled flight to La Palma is 17 February 2022.
"We’d like to reassure customers due to travel to any other Canary Islands that our flights are currently operating as planned however we will continue to monitor the situation and contact them should their holiday be impacted.
"We’d like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding during this time."
TUI has been forced to cancel some of its flights on and off since the eruption began in September. In late November, the airline canceled all its services up to and including flights operating yesterday, with today expected to mark a resumption of services.
However, ongoing eruptions and danger from ash clouds means the resumption never went ahead. Now, it will be several weeks before TUI returns to the island. Flights to other destinations in the Canaries are going ahead as planned.
The ongoing disruption of Cumbre Vieja
It was September when the Cumbre Vieja volcano began erupting on the island of La Palma in the Spanish Canaries. Since then, around 7,000 people have been evacuated and the lava flow has covered more than 1,000 hectares of the island. Some 3,000 buildings have been destroyed, in what is now the most damaging volcanic eruption La Palma has seen since records began.
Flights have been disrupted throughout the eruption, as winds drive dangerous ash clouds into flight paths. Binter Canarias has suspended traffic on and off to the island, as have international airlines serving the holiday hotspot. On Monday this week, authorities were forced to suspend all air travel to and from La Palma as ash and volcanic gasses engulfed the airport.
More than 150 miles to the west of La Palma, holidaymakers in Tenerife have been feeling the disruption too. On Tuesday, a number of flights out of Tenerife were delayed or canceled as volcanic ash impacted flight paths. Fellow UK airline Jet2 experienced a number of delays, with passengers taking to Twitter to share their frustration.
According to aviation data experts Cirium, 23 flights in total were canceled between December 14th and 15th due to volcanic activity. However, the volcano has now been quiet for two days, and experts are predicting that it might finally be over.