Tunisia hotel attack: Jetair & Thomas Cook bring tourists back

[airazurxtror]

RTL-TVI evening news :
Jetair forces its 2000 clients in Tunisia to come back at once, volens nolens, they don't have a choice.
Neckerman and Thomas Cook leave the choice : on 1200 clients in Tunisia, around 100 have requested an immediate return in Belgium.
Tour operators and travel agents whose clients fly on skeds (Tunisair, Brussels Airlines) let them stay and/or go to Tunisia as arranged if they so wish.

I'll add : if their clients were to fly on Jetairfly, and wish to get their holiday as foreseen, they try to book them on another carrier (not always easy to find an available seat at the requested date).

Let's keep cool and collected !

[Flanker2]

I think that it's a good thing that they're bringing them back.
With 2 attacks in 3 months with dozens of deaths each time, Tunisia is no longer a safe place to travel to.

The terrorists win, but better that than having more civilian casualties.
It's so easy to carry out such attacks, there is little one can do to prevent it or limit the damage.

I think that Jetair is doing the right thing here.
From a bureaucratic perspective, acts of terrorism are usually not covered by standard insurance policies and require separate insurance policies. This alone should give tour operators sufficient reason to consider it.

[sn26567]

I think that it's a good thing that they're bringing them back.

Do you really think Belgium (or any other European country for that matter) is a safer place? A terrorist attack can take place everywhere, any time, as the Jewish Museum in Brussels has shown recently and the chemical plant near Lyon not later than yesterday.

The safest place right on earth right now is probably the Imperial Merhaba hotel in Sousse where the attack took place yesterday: heavily guarded day and night. The Tour Operators should have given their clients the choice to come back or not. I know that this could have caused a lot of logistic problems, especially after the cancellation of all their flights for one or two months, but it is always possible to rebook their customers on alternative carriers.

[JAFflyer]

André, I'm really surprised by your post. ISIS has targetted Tunisia already several times and now tourists are involved. I would be happy to leave this place as you are not sure when it's your turn. You can continue sunbathing with both eyes wide open... As a touroperator I would be more at ease sending my clients to Spain or Canary Islands than to Tunisia. They take their responsability seriously and that is a good thing.
Can you imagine doing nothing and suffering another attack the next day? Imagine what the papers would say then...
About rebooking pax: connections from NBE and DJE are not that great apart from the charter airlines.

[Passenger]

André, I'm really surprised by your post. ISIS has targetted Tunisia already several times and now tourists are involved. I would be happy to leave this place as you are not sure when it's your turn. You can continue sunbathing with both eyes wide open... As a touroperator I would be more at ease sending my clients to Spain or Canary Islands than to Tunisia. They take their responsability seriously and that is a good thing.
Can you imagine doing nothing and suffering another attack the next day? Imagine what the papers would say then...
About rebooking pax: connections from NBE and DJE are not that great apart from the charter airlines.

I agree with JAFlyer: Sousse may well be "the safest place on earth right now", but what about next week? And what about the "vakantiegevoel" (happy holidays)? How can one enjoy a beach hotel, if you know that just a few days ago, 39 people have been executed on that beach.

But then, this discussion is pure hypothetical. According to the Belgian Reiscontractenwet/Loi Contrat Voyages, which is binding for all touroperators, a negative travel advice from the Belgian Department of Foreign Affairs means that clients have to be repatriated. But then, off course, touroperators don't have the legal force to order their clients to board an aircraft...

[airazurxtror]

Just heard on the RTL-TVI news : Jetair passengers who had departed from Liège have been flown back to Zaventem and dropped there, with nobody from Jetair or Jetairfly to help them : trek ha plan to reach Liège ...

[regi]

Terror succeeds if it is given attention,and if people get afraid.
Terrorism has no strategic military aims. The sole goal is to spread fear.
In my personnal opinion, the word terrorism is used too easely.
I take the example of the Tamil Tiger LTTE attack on the airports in 2001, without aiming at innoscent civilians.
The impact was tremendous on the Sri Lankan economy. ( did Emirates not have to take over most of their flights because the own fleet was deminished ?)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandarana ... ort_attack
Despite the attackers knew it would be a suicide mission, despite the lethal violence , it was a pure military operation which succeeded beyond their own expectations. The result was even that the government was brought to the negotation table and a truce was agreed. ( sadly enough, history has shown that the LTTE abused this truce to build up military strength instead of going on the road to peace, resulting in total annihilation )

Terror is mostly used by groups who have no military ability to confront their enemies. And it works. Millions of civilians are displaced, on the run in Syria, Iraq, Sudan, the C.A.R., Niger, Congo, Nigeria, Somalia etcetera.
Just by fear. It is so simple: if 200 fighters of Boko Haram attack a village in Nigeria and the population would not run but defend themselves with sticks and knives, it would be over in 5 to 10 minutes and there would not be a Boko haram anymore.
If our not so brave policemen would have done their job with their service pistols against the attacks of the Bende Van Nijvel instead of hiding behind their vans, it would have ended on the spot.
If Indian security forces would have acted according their training and gut feeling, there would have been much less victims of the Mumbai attacks.

If those 22 dead tourists would have attacked that lone terrorist , there would have been +- 5 dead people .

And now you all get angry at me, because this written language reads as if I would say it is the tourists their fault. No. Absolutely no. It is not their fault that because of panic, they did not do what could have downsized the tragedy.

I hear constantly this whining that terrorist attacks can not prevented. It can. Don't give in to them. They are in minority and weak. The brave passengers of flight UA-93 realised this and are my heroes.
( I do not call the passengers of the 3 other airplanes or the beach tourists cowards )

If you want to have a holiday in Tunesia, just go. Not with the intention to make a statement against terrorism. No, just because you want a beach holiday in Tunesia.

[KriVa]

Just a polite reminder before the discussion even starts:
Keep in mind that luchtzak is a forum about aviation. Please do keep the discussion at least somewhat close to the realm of aviation. There may be a lot to be said about the terrorist attacks and the reasons behind it, but luchtzak is not the place to have that discussion.
I realise that this is a fine line, especially in situations like this, but keep the discussion on the correct side of said line, please.

Thanks!

[Passenger]

Just heard on the RTL-TVI news : Jetair passengers who had departed from Liège have been flown back to Zaventem and dropped there, with nobody from Jetair or Jetairfly to help them : trek ha plan to reach Liège ...

Can you tell us what Jetair / Jetairfly has told them in Tunesia? Because that's what relevant now. did Jetair/Jetairfly told them they would be repatriated to Brussels, or to Liège?

[saratoga]

It is a pitty that both companies mandatory evacuates people. Like many say, these terrorist will "win". Their only goal is to create fear, thereby destabilising the economy, to grip power and expand its "organisation". I understand the air carriers' decision but i am afraid it is a emotional decision. Why not let the tourists to decide themselves??

[Passenger]

It is a pitty that both companies mandatory evacuates people. Like many say, these terrorist will "win". Their only goal is to create fear, thereby destabilising the economy, to grip power and expand its "organisation". I understand the air carriers' decision but i am afraid it is a emotional decision. Why not let the tourists to decide themselves??

Evacuation/repat was not an emotional decision, but a legal obligation because of the official negative travel advice issued on Friday afternoon.

[airazurxtror]

Les touristes partis en Tunisie avec Thomas Cook sont libres de rentrer anticipativement ou non. Parmi les 1.454 clients belges du tour-opérateur concernés, seuls sept avaient annoncé dès vendredi soir, jour de l’attaque, vouloir quitter précipitamment la Tunisie. Depuis, près de 100 vacanciers ont atterri en Belgique et 50 suivront.
D’après Koen van den Bosch, les clients qui ont choisi de rentrer séjournaient à proximité du lieu où s’est déroulée l’attaque, perpétrée dans la station balnéaire de Port el Kantaoui, près de Sousse. «Ceux qui se trouvent à Djerba, 400 km plus loin, préfèrent rester.»

Tant Thomas Cook que Jetair ont annulé leurs voyages en Tunisie après l’avis négatif des Affaires étrangères. Mais, contrairement à Jetair, Thomas Cook garantit aux clients déjà sur place un vol retour s’ils restent jusqu’au terme de leur séjour.

http://www.lavenir.net/cnt/dmf20150628_00670374

The tourists that flew to Tunisia with Thomas Cook are free to return prematurely or not. Among the 1,454 Belgian customers the tour operator concerned , only seven had announced on Friday evening , the day of the attack, that they wanted to leave Tunisia . Since then, nearly 100 tourists landed in Belgium and 50 will follow.
According to Koen van den Bosch , customers who have chosen to return were staying near the place where the attack took place , in the resort of Port el Kantaoui near Sousse. "Those who are in Djerba, 400 km away, prefer to stay . "

Both Thomas Cook and Jetair canceled their trips to Tunisia after the negative opinion of Foreign Affairs.
But unlike Jetair , Thomas Cook guarantees a return flight to the clients if they stay until the end of their stay in Tunisia.

Thomas Cook is more customer minded. Jetair is not, but that is an already well known fact.

[Passenger]

The tourists that flew to Tunisia with Thomas Cook are free to return prematurely or not. Among the 1,454 Belgian customers the tour operator concerned , only seven had announced on Friday evening , the day of the attack, that they wanted to leave Tunisia . Since then, nearly 100 tourists landed in Belgium and 50 will follow. According to Koen van den Bosch , customers who have chosen to return were staying near the place where the attack took place , in the resort of Port el Kantaoui near Sousse. "Those who are in Djerba, 400 km away, prefer to stay . " Both Thomas Cook and Jetair canceled their trips to Tunisia after the negative opinion of Foreign Affairs. But unlike Jetair , Thomas Cook guarantees a return flight to the clients if they stay until the end of their stay in Tunisia.

Off course. Airlines have a legal mandate to refuse tourists/passengers, but they cannot force tourists/passengers to board an aircraft.

Thomas Cook is more customer minded. Jetair is not, but that is an already well known fact.

Nonsense, pure nonsense. Both touroperators want that their clients book again with them next time. The only difference here is the legal approach from both towards the negative travel advice.

[Inquirer]

Given several tour operators are canceling holidays (and flights) for the rest of summer, is there any news about increasing the number of flights to other destinations (provided there's hotel capacity left, of course)?
Good news for Spain and Portugal and possibly Greece, if they'd manage to keep their cool a bit more.
After Egypt, it is another destination off the map for a long time, I fear.

[b-west]

Just heard on the RTL-TVI news : Jetair passengers who had departed from Liège have been flown back to Zaventem and dropped there, with nobody from Jetair or Jetairfly to help them : trek ha plan to reach Liège ...

The horror!!!! Having to get from Zaventem to Liège, that's gonna take them at least 1 hour by train... Or they'll even have to arrange for somebody to come and fetch them, a gruelling 45 minutes ride!!! After barely escaping with their life from Tunisia, their ordeal just continues and gets worse and worse... They'll probably come home to realise the neighbour didn't water the plants properly...

(just saying, people are spoiled and all too eager to bitch and whine )

[airazurxtror]

The horror!!!! Having to get from Zaventem to Liège, that's gonna take them at least 1 hour by train... Or they'll even have to arrange for somebody to come and fetch them, a gruelling 45 minutes ride!!!

It's easy to be sarcastic.
When you have bought a flight to Liège, you expect to be flown to Liège, not to Brussels. All the more if you have just had a trying experience. It's your right, full stop.
If Jetairfly was unable to fly its passenger to Liège - their destination - the least they could do is to carry them by coach or otherwise to Bierset, where they had their car or somebody waiting for them.
I had once my Ryanair flight landing at Liège instead of Charleroi, they arranged for the passengers to be bussed to Gosselies.
But at Jetairfly, the airline is always right, the customer is always wrong. Nasty.

[Passenger]

The horror!!!! Having to get from Zaventem to Liège, that's gonna take them at least 1 hour by train... Or they'll even have to arrange for somebody to come and fetch them, a gruelling 45 minutes ride!!!

It's easy to be sarcastic. When you have bought a flight to Liège, you expect to be flown to Liège, not to Brussels. All the more if you have just had a trying experience. It's your right, full stop. If Jetairfly was unable to fly its passenger to Liège - their destination - the least they could do is to carry them by coach or otherwise to Bierset, where they had their car or somebody waiting for them. I had once my Ryanair flight landing at Liège instead of Charleroi, they arranged for the passengers to be bussed to Gosselies. But at Jetairfly, the airline is always right, the customer is always wrong. Nasty.

... a reply as one could expect from a competitor from Jetairfly.

When there is an official negative travel advice, all expectations don't matter anymore. The only legal obligation for a touroperator at that moment is to repatriate the tourists: bring them back to Belgium.

Your statement "...it's your right, full stop..." is absolutely untrue. Actually, it's the contrary: the Belgian Travel Contract Law (Reiscontractenwet / Loi Contrat de Voyage) even allows touroperators to charge the repatriation costs (example: the cost of sending an empty 767 to Tunesia). But they all love their clients, so no one does so.

So I repeat my question I've asked before and you didn't answered yet: how was the repatriation presented to them in Tunesia? Did the Jetair host/hostess told them they would get a flight to Brussels, or dit the host/hostess also promised them a bus transfer to LGG?

[airazurxtror]

But they all love their clients, so no one does so.

I have long suspected it, and now I am sure : you are a troll, "passenger".
You won't have me answering you any more.

[Passenger]

I have long suspected it, and now I am sure : you are a troll, "passenger".
You won't have me answering you any more.

Please airazurxtor, can you please give me just one (1) answer - to a question I have asked you already twice, and which is relevant (at least, I think so) for your insult towards Jetair: how was the repatriation presented to them in Tunesia? Did the Jetair host/hostess told them they would get a flight to Brussels, or dit the host/hostess also promised them a bus transfer to LGG?

- - -

Anyway, there is news from The Netherlands. This morning, the Dutch Department of Foreign Affairs have called a negative travel advice for Tunesia, valid at least one month.

All Dutch tourists will now have to be repatriated.

The Netherlands have a "travel trade Calamity Fund" = Calamiteitenfonds. This fund has just accepted the assault (26 June) as a calamity, so the Dutch touroperators-members of that fund may send the repat invoice to them, and tourists will get a refund for lost holiday-days (if their touroperator is a Calamiteitenfonds-member).

Dutch only:
http://www.calamiteitenfonds.nl/home/ni ... astgesteld

[Conti764]

If our not so brave policemen would have done their job with their service pistols against the attacks of the Bende Van Nijvel instead of hiding behind their vans, it would have ended on the spot.

[/quote]

You obviously don't have a clue what you are talking about

First, before you insult police officers, compare their weaponry with those of terror groups... In the case of the Bende van Nijvel, you had HK machine guns, riot guns and even a fal, the Rijkswacht only had 9 mm handguns and, in the most positive case, an UZI machine gun. The first have military grade ammunition, the latter only civilian.

The same with recent terrorists, they all have dirt cheap AK-47's with military ammunition, capable of piercing through police bulletproof vests. Police only has 9mm and an UZI...

But of course, in stead of hiding, Rambo Regi would have jumped in the line of fire and single handedly taken out the entire gang at the scene

And read something about the Bende van Nijvel, gendarmes have died and some individual gendarmes were the target of attacks... But hey, you only seem to be a hero when you fall. At least for the internet heros behind their PC's in their safe living rooms...

This is an aviation forum and I suggest you stick to aviation, since you lack any proper knowledge about a topic you claim to know everything about. Villagers attacking Boko Haram with sticks and knives, come on...