Travel question: Why did Tui wait to tell us about a change of plane?

Have a question? Ask our expert Simon Calder

Thassos: several carriers have had to reshuffle their fleets this summer

Q We booked a holiday to Thassos. Now just five days away we have received an email to say that the flight will now be operated by Albastar. The reason given is that this is due to the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max. However, I have noted that the Tui fleet has been grounded since 12 March 2019. So why has it taken them almost 10 weeks to notify passengers of a change to the operator? Upon reading reviews on TripAdvisor the airline is absolutely slated in terms of service and delays.

Tui’s terms and conditions indicate that if a major change is made, a refund is possible along with just £40 per person compensation.

We seem to have no choice but to accept a second-class service or lose out on a holiday away completely. What do you think?