TUI Resumes Flights to Disaster Areas

The biggest travel operator in Europe, TUI of Germany, announced it will resume flights to the tsunami hit area of Sri Lanka and the Thai island of Phuket in February. Spokesman Mario Koepers said that flights to the Maldives, which escaped major devastation from the tidal waves, have resumed. TUI still has about 50 percent of hotel space in Phuket, 40 percent in Sri Lanka and 85 percent in the Maldives. Meanwhile, Thomas Cook, the second biggest travel operator in Germany, has cancelled all its flights to Phuket until the end of April.