Budget airline EasyJet set for Tunisia for first time since Sousse terror attack

Budget airline EasyJet set for Tunisia for first time since Sousse terror attack
Low-cost airline EasyJet is set to resume flights to Tunisia for the first time since the Sousse terror attack in 2015.
2 min read
12 December, 2019
EasyJet will resume flights to Tunisia in May 2020 [Getty]

British low-budget airline Easyjet is set to return to Tunisia for the first time since cancelling services to the North African country after the Sousse terror attack in 2015 killed British holidaymakers.

The airline will run two flights a week between London's Gatwick Airport and the beach resort of Enfidha starting in May 2020.

British airlines stopped flights to Tunisia after the UK's Foreign Office advised against all but essential to Tunisia in the aftermath of the 2015 attack, in which 31 British nationals were killed.

The foreign office advice was withdrawn in 2017 for most destinations in Tunisia, however, the country has witnessed multiple terror attacks on its soil, having damaging repercussions for the confidence of tourism industry.

In October, a female suicide bomber aiming at a police van struck the city centre, killing only herself and wounding several people. 

In 2015, two deadly attacks at the Bardo Museum in Tunis and at a beach resort in Sousse, again claimed by IS, killed 60 people, dealing a devastating blow to Tunisia's vital tourism sector.

Tourism has since picked up again after the Tunisian government increased security around popular destinations, and negative travel advice was lifted.

Major European tour operators start to return to Tunisia in 2018 with tourist numbers beginning to return to pre-crisis levels, according to the country's tourism minister. The number of foreign visitors rose close to 45 percent last year.

Revenues from tourism bounced to $1.36 billion in 2018 and Tunisia expects tourist arrivals to reach a record nine million in 2019, based on governmental calculations.


Follow us on Twitter and Instagram to stay connected 

Tags