TUI issues holiday warning for Brits heading abroad this summer

TUI has issued a warning to British tourists heading abroad for a summer holiday.

All customers with a holiday booked for 2022 have been emailed with advice around new EU travel rules since Brexit.

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The travel company and airline informed customers that many non-EU countries require at least six months of validity on their passports from the date they arrive.

The email read: “It may be a while since you’ve been on holiday abroad, so we want to ensure you don’t encounter any issues with your passports.”

TUI also reminded holidaymakers that most European destinations require visitors to have three months validity on passports from the day they travel home.

On top of this, all passports must be no more than 10 years old on the date that visitors enter a destination.

Passport delays are also causing holiday chaos for Brits with the usual five-week wait time now extended to a ten-week period.

It’s estimated that 4.5million Brits had their passports expire during the Covid-19 pandemic when travel restrictions put the tourism industry on hold.

Waiting until now that most restrictions are lifted, this has created a huge backlog of renewal requests with the Passport Office, leading them to double the usual estimated time.

The Sun Online has compiled a list of all the countries that require travellers to have at least six months remaining before their passport’s expiry date.

A full breakdown of each country’s entry requirements can be found on the government’s Foreign Travel Advice website.

Ryanair are the latest airline to have made headlines after denied boarding to passengers – despite having valid passports.

Under new rules since Brexit, a passport must have at least three months’ validity remaining and be less than 10 years old.

An 11-year-old boy from Scotland was left in tears after Ryanair claimed his passport didn’t meet EU rules for flying to Tenerife.

Ryanair have since acknowledged the mistake and have offered the family a refund for their unused flights and further compensation.

A spokesperson for the airline told The Sun: “We apologise sincerely for the error we made in this case and we have updated our briefing notes to all our airport handling agents to ensure this error does not recur.”

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