Thomsonfly withdraws from Coventry Airport - helpful advice

15.10.2008 Thomsonfly has today confirmed that operations from Coventry Airport will terminate this winter. The last outbound Thomsonfly flights will depart Coventry on 2 November 2008, with the final inbound Thomsonfly flights arriving in to Coventry on 9 November. The final inbound flight from Jersey will operate on Monday 3rd November If you are booked to travel on a Thomsonfly flight from Coventry, please read the advice below carefully before contacting us.

I'm booked to travel from Coventry. How am I affected?

I'm leaving Coventry on or before the 2nd November - how does this affect me?
If your return flight arrives back at Coventry airport on or before 2nd November, then you are not affected and your flights will operate as planned. If you are travelling from Coventry to Jersey on or before 2nd November and returning back to Coventry on or before 3rd November, then you are not affected – your flights will operate as scheduled.

If you are travelling from Coventry to any other destination on or before the 2nd November and returning back to Coventry on or before 9th November then you are also not affected – your flights will operate as scheduled.

Regrettably, if your travel plans include returning to Coventry on or after the 4th November from Jersey, or the 10th November from any other destination, then your flights are affected. You will be contacted within the next 5 days and, where possible, offered an alternative return flight. This flight will operate from and return to another UK airport. If you decide that the alternative we offer you is acceptable, then we will also offer to move your original outbound flight so that you leave and return to and from the same airport. If you decide that the alternative is not acceptable, or we are unable to offer you an alternative flight, then we will provide you with a full refund.

We apologise for the inconvenience this change will cause to your travel plans, but we believe that in most cases, there will be alternative Thomsonfly flights available that are likely to meet your needs. Further information relating to your specific service is provided below.

Help us to help you
We understand that our customers will be concerned about the impact of these changes on their travel plans. We will be working as quickly as possible to rebook customers onto alternative flights and to refund those customers who are no longer able to travel. Our call centre operators will inevitably be extremely busy and it may take longer than usual to answer your calls. We therefore kindly ask all our customers to be patient and to contact us only after we have made contact with you. We will have contacted all our customers outlining alternative travel plans no later than Thursday 16th October.

What alternatives will I be offered?
Information for customers travelling from Coventry to Alicante/Faro/Malaga this winter:
The options available to customers travelling from Coventry to Alicante, Faro, and Malaga this winter are outlined below. When you receive your notification from us, you should contact us to tell us what your preferred travel option would be. Where possible, we will then amend your booking as requested.

Alicante to/from Coventry
We operate flights to and from Alicante and a number of other UK airports. These include:

Doncaster Sheffield: Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun
Birmingham: Tue
Manchester: Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun
East Midlands: Tue, Sat
Cardiff: Tue, Sat
London Gatwick: Tue, Fri, Sun
* some specific departure date variations may apply. Flight times are available by checking our timetable.

Faro to/from Coventry
We operate flights to and from Faro and a number of other UK airports. These include:

Doncaster Sheffield: Mon, Thu
Manchester: Mon, Thu
London Gatwick: Thu
* some specific departure date variations may apply. Flight times are available by checking our timetable.

Malaga to/from Coventry
We operate flights to and from Malaga and a number of other UK airports. These include:

Doncaster Sheffield: Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun
Birmingham: Sun
Manchester: Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun
East Midlands: Sun
Cardiff: Thu, Sun London Gatwick: Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun

* some specific departure date variations may apply. Flight times are available by checking our timetable.

Information for customers travelling from Coventry to Jersey this winter:

Jersey to/from Coventry
Regrettably, flights to Jersey will no longer be included within the Thomsonfly network after the 2nd November, and flights from Jersey will no longer be operated after 3rd November. We are therefore unable to offer customers traveling between Coventry and Jersey any alternative flight. We will therefore automatically issue refunds to all impacted customers. Refunds will be credited back to customer’s credit and/or debit cards within the next 14 days.If you still wish to travel to/from Jersey, we recommend you make arrangements to travel from either Birmingham or East Midlands airports.

Information for customers travelling from Coventry to Salzburg this winter:

Salzburg to/from Coventry
Where possible, we will offer you an alternative flight departing and returning from Manchester on the same day as your existing flight. Alternatively, we may offer you the alternative of switching your flights to depart from and return to either Bournemouth or Doncaster Sheffield airports. If these alternatives are not acceptable, you will be offered a full refund. Once we have contacted you, you should follow the instructions we provide in order to confirm your flight change or arrange your refund.

Will I be charged if I have to change airport and/or the date I travel?

Where we are able to offer you an alternative flight to/from an alternative UK airport on the exact date that you planned to travel, then there will be no extra cost.

If an alternative flight to or from your chosen destination is not available on the exact date that you had original booked to travel, then you will be offered the chance to change both your flight date and UK departure/arrival airport at no extra cost.

If you wish to bring forward your return date in order to arrive back at Coventry before our services at Coventry terminate, this will also be possible at no extra cost

You will only be charged an additional cost if you decide that none of the alternatives offered by us are appropriate to you and where you instead opt to make a significant change to your destination, departure point or travel date (e.g.: switch from Coventry Malaga to Manchester Alicante). In these instances, although we will waive any amendment fees that would usually be applied, you will still be required to pay any increase in fare.

If I’m due to receive a refund, how will this be processed?

If we are unable to offer you an alternative flight, or if you choose not to select the alternative that we offer, then we will provide you with a refund automatically (see above: What alternatives will I be offered?).

Refunds will be processed in the form of your original payment (i.e.: credited back to the debit or credit card originally used to make the payment). Refunds will usually be completed within 14 days.

You will be refunded the full cost of your flight including all taxes and charges together with the cost of any related services previously booked with us.

Will you refund the cost of hotel or car hire bookings made with other suppliers?

We regret we are unable to offer refunds for any hotels or car hire bookings made in connection with your Thomsonfly travel plans that were not made with us. We recommend that you contact your provider for further assistance.

I have pre-booked car parking at Coventry Airport, what should I do?

If you have pre-booked car parking with Coventry Airport you will automatically be refunded the cost in full, to the card used to make the payment. For further information please visit Coventry Airport’s website www.coventryairport.co.uk