Q We have just left a small hotel in Mirissa in Sri Lanka. The owner was telling us that he has had cancellations of $20,000 (£15,000) so far due to the Middle East turmoil. That is a lot of money in Sri Lanka. I wonder how many businesses won’t survive this?
Paul E
A You touch upon one of the saddest aspects of the collapse of tourism between Asia and Europe due to the Iran conflict. Traders who depend upon rich Westerners to keep their businesses running and their families fed are discovering just how important the airlines of the Gulf are in terms of bringing in customers.
I agree that it seems desperately unfair. The party directly responsible for the near collapse of aviation is Iran. The beleaguered Islamic republic is retaliating by targeting economic infrastructure in the UAE and Qatar, intermittently closing the skies and leaving thousands more stranded each time.
An adventure by Donald Trump, combined with vengeance wrought by Israel, is having a massive effect on tourism across the eastern hemisphere. This has not happened on such a large scale since, well, the two Gulf wars. When tourism in Sri Lanka comes back this time around, I can be pretty sure that airlines will open up new routes to feed the demand. It isn’t that people don’t want to visit the gorgeous Indian Ocean island – we tourists have become overreliant on transferring via the Middle East. The premium for non-stop flying has just increased.
While I sympathise with the Sri Lankan property owner, I am not too despondent for him. The Indian outbound market is vast. Normally, India is the chief source of tourists to Dubai (followed by Saudi Arabia and the UK). Only a relatively small percentage of them will need to switch to Sri Lanka to make up for the shortfall in numbers. And who knows, they may discover a superb new holiday destination that is cheaper and easier to reach than the UAE.
Q You have been writing about how flights on Emirates and Etihad are much cheaper than trips that do not require a stop in the United Arab Emirates. But isn’t being in transit exempt? Given you do not pass the border, surely you are technically not entering the UAE – just pausing at the terminal at Abu Dhabi or Dubai?
Simon S
A I happen to be writing from Jakarta airport, about to board an Etihad flight to Abu Dhabi with an onward connection to London Heathrow. The fare is about one-third as much as other airlines are charging for the same end-to-end journey via hubs outside the Gulf.
Since the US and Israel attacked Iran, and Tehran retaliated with strikes on the UAE and Qatar, a huge amount of capacity has been taken out of the Asia-to-UK market. Qatar Airways has to all intents and purposes ceased flying to and from its hub at Doha, causing much distress to tens of thousands of passengers stranded abroad.
Emirates and Etihad are slowly rebuilding their schedules using limited airspace. Besides repatriating passengers, they are now selling tickets to new buyers via their hubs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively. The downside is that the Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to the UAE. The reason: “Iran continues to strike civilian infrastructure across the region such as hotels, roads, bridges, energy facilities, financial institutions, oil production sites, water systems and airports.”
Given the last item in that list, it is unsurprising that there is no exemption for merely spending a couple of hours in the duty-free shop between flights. Whether or not I pass through immigration is irrelevant.
For avoidance of doubt: the Foreign Office is not averse to the concept of allowing airside transit in a location on the no-go list. In Ecuador’s largest city, Guayaquil, as well as the Mexican border town of Tijuana, there is a specific exemption for people changing planes. In the case of the UAE, evidently the officials deem the risks too high. In the expectation that the airline, airport and aviation authority know what they are doing, I am happy to take the chance.
Q My daughter flew back at the weekend from Phnom Penh to London via Seoul. She wanted to avoid the uncertainty of her flights being repeatedly cancelled and having to transit via the UAE, which the Foreign Office says is not safe. The new flight cost her around £1,500. She can only get back about £250 from the airline as a refund. Is there any way to plug the gap in her finances?
Name Supplied
A Your daughter – happily back safe and sound – is one of many thousands of British travellers dealt a lousy hand in the current crisis. As I have previously written, air passengers’ rights rules are asymmetric. They are generous to anyone starting a flight at a British airport, but do not apply for flights starting outside Europe on non-UK/EU airlines. If Emirates, Etihad or Qatar Airways cancels a homebound trip from an Asian airport, the carrier merely has to offer a replacement flight at a time of its choosing – or a refund of the unused part of the ticket.
I should explain why the airline’s calculation of the appropriate refund may be disappointingly low. Example: suppose your daughter paid £630 for a London Heathrow-Phnom Penh return ticket. She would reasonably expect to get £315 back. But roughly £130 of the original fare comprises UK air passenger duty and Heathrow’s service charge. The airline has already had to hand that over. So the refund shrinks to just £250.
I can suggest some possible remedies, though the odds are not looking good. The first is to try to claim from travel insurance the difference between the refunded amount and the new ticket. Many policies exclude paying out for losses incurred as a result of “declared or undeclared war or hostilities”. But the insurer may possibly cough up as an exceptional case. If the claim is turned down, the Financial Ombudsman Service might rule it should be paid because buying a new, expensive ticket was the only way your daughter could avoid going through “no-go” territory.
Finally, the airlines could decide that they really should reimburse the millions of passengers who have incurred big credit card bills through no fault of their own. Your daughter should keep the receipts.
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