The war in Ukraine is having a knock-on effect for our holidays, with flight prices rising and booking patterns changing since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
The Foreign Office has added three countries and one territory to its red list, prompting tour operators to cancel holidays to these regions for 2022.
The closure of Russian airspace has had a knock-on effect for flight times to the Far East, and the rise in jet fuel prices is expected to have an impact on the cost of holidays in the coming weeks and months.
There are also some destinations not involved in the war in Ukraine, but which border either Ukraine or Russia, that are seeing holiday cancellations amid fears that the war could have a wider-reaching impact on eastern Europe in the coming months.
Here is how the holiday map is being redrawn due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Four countries are now off limits
The Foreign Office now advises against all travel to Russia, and advises anyone planning to go there “to amend travel plans immediately”. All UK airlines are banned from flying to Russia, meaning you will receive a refund from your airline if you had a weekend break planned in Moscow or St Petersburg in the coming weeks or months.
Ukraine has also been red-listed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), meaning travel there is not advised under any circumstances, and all British citizens in Ukraine are advised to leave the country if they judge it safe to do so. There is also a travel advisory against going to Belarus to the north of Ukraine, and the Transnistria region in Moldova.
This means that tour operators and cruise lines will be obliged to cancel any upcoming trips to these red-listed areas. Viking Cruises has already opted to cancel all 2022 departures on its Kiev, Black Sea and Bucharest itinerary, and G Adventures has cancelled all planned trips to Russia and said it will no longer accept Russian residents on its itineraries.
Always check the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office website before you travel overseas, and contact your tour operator or insurer if you have any concerns about your holiday.
People are cancelling holidays to the Baltics
While there has been no military activity in the Baltic nations, some holidaymakers are changing their holiday plans in the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia due to the war in Ukraine.
Andrea Godfrey, Brand Manager and Ukraine specialist at Regent Holidays, said: “We have noticed a slowing in enquiries for holidays to the Baltics and a small number of people who are due to depart in the next few months have switched their bookings to alternative destinations such as Iceland and Scandinavia.
“We still have a lot of bookings to the region for the second half of the year and these have been unaffected so far. Thankfully, demand for our other destinations, including many off the beaten track countries like Saudi Arabia and Timor l’Este, is still strong since the lifting of so many Covid regulations.”
The Lithuania capital city of Vilnius is just 22 miles (36 km) from the border of Belarus, while both Latvia and Estonia share borders with Russia. However, all three Baltic countries have been members of NATO since 2004.
Hungary, Slovakia and Poland border Ukraine to the west
A number of popular EU holiday destinations border Ukraine to the west, including Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Poland. The Polish city of Krakow is just 156 miles (251 km) from the Ukrainian border
The FCDO does not advise against travel to any of these countries, although the Foreign Office warns against travelling into Ukraine from these countries. Poland in particular is seeing a significant influx of Ukrainians seeking safety, estimated to number more than a million as of March 7.
Flights to the Far East will take up to an hour longer
Russia has closed its airspace to UK carriers along with airlines from many other European countries, and all international aviation authorities have now rerouted flights away from Ukrainian airspace following the Russian invasion. A quick glance at Flightradar24 shows a very busy map of planes above Europe, but no flights above Ukraine and parts of Belarus to the north.
