Holidaymakers struggle to get home amid shutdowns

UK holidaymakers face a race against time to return home as countries around the world shut down due to the coronavirus.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advised travellers in Spain to return home before March 24 as its government has ordered all hotels to close from that date.

Thomas Reilly, the British ambassador to Morocco, said “we are trying to get as many flights in as we can” before the country’s airspace closes at midnight tonight.

Holidaymakers struggling to return home have accused airlines of leaving them stranded and demanding extortionate fees.

Tom Widdall, who is in Morocco with his pregnant girlfriend, was due to fly home from Agadir to Manchester on Saturday, but his easyJet flight was cancelled. He claimed he has been “abandoned by easyJet and abandoned by the embassy”.

EasyJet told passengers it is “doing all we can to assist”.

Dave Cook, 36, from Edinburgh, was stranded in Japan after his KLM flight home on Friday was cancelled.

He told the PA news agency he felt “left in the dark” by his travel firm lastminute.com and had bought a new flight for more than £1,100.

Mr Cook added that the British embassy told him, ‘We’re not doing flights for people. You have to speak with your airline or travel agent’.

An FCO spokesman said: “We are in close contact with travel providers and our international partners to provide support to those British people affected by ongoing measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.”