Thomas Cook flies out special ‘hurricane’ team to help thousands of British holidaymakers
Thomas Cook has sent 18 members of its ‘Special Assistance Team’ to Cuba and the Dominican Republic to help thousands of its customers as Hurricane Irma is expected to hit the islands today.
Five members of staff will be sent to Cayo Coco in Cuba, seven to Holguin in Cuba and six to the Dominican Republic.
Thomas Cook currently has 4,803 UK customers in Cuba, 1,501 in the Dominican Republic and eight in Antigua.
A hurricane warning is in place for the Dominican Republic and a hurricane watch has been issued in Cuba, Miami and the Florida Keys.
"We’re offering free amendments or cancellations for customers travelling to these destinations up to and including Sunday 10 September," said a Thomas Cook spokesman.
"The safety of our customers is always our first priority. We continue to monitor this powerful storm and its possible impact on Florida."
It said customers who want to fly back earlier are ‘being looked after by our local teams’ and are being offered seats free of charge where it has availability on its own airlines.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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