All Tui holidays to Sri Lanka departing in the next two weeks through to 18 July have been cancelled owing to the country’s worsening economic crisis.

The FCDO initially advised against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka on 13 May on grounds of ongoing political and economic instability.

This was relaxed on 10 June only to be reinstated less than a month later on Tuesday (5 July) with the FCDO citing Sri Lanka’s now "severe" economic crisis.

The country is suffering from shortages of "basic necessities" said the FCDO, including fuel, medicines and food.

The advice doesn’t apply to airside transit through Sri Lanka’s main international airport, Bandaranaike International, in capital Colombo.

In a statement, Tui said it was cancelling all holidays to Sri Lanka departing up to and on 18 July.

"We will be proactively contacting all impacted customers in departure date order to discuss their options," said the airline and operator.

"Please note this advice does not apply to customers transiting through Sri Lanka’s international airport and customers currently in resort can continue to enjoy their holiday as planned.

"We will continue to monitor the situation and update customers should there be any further updates. We would like to thank our customers for their understanding at this time."