British tourists begin to return home

Hundreds of Britons have fled the countries ravaged by the Boxing Day tsunami, while tour operators try to track down the missing.

At least 10,000 UK holidaymakers were staying in the affected region stretching from east Africa to Thailand and Indonesia. As they returned home in special aircraft chartered by tour companies, many were bedraggled, bare-foot and without their passports.

But, as fears of tragedy turned to relief for most, concerns were raised about the cost of their rapid evacuation.

Frances Tuke, from the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta), said it was likely those caught in the disaster would not receive payouts. "Usually, with travel insurance, it doesn't apply for an act of God - a natural disaster," she said.

The Association of British Insurers said cover did not usually include cutting short a holiday. Its spokesman, Alan Leaman, said it was too early to speculate on the total losses. But he said: "It is unlikely that most policies will cover the cost of curtailment of the holiday and I think the tour operators and travel agents will be doing most to help people out."

The Federation of Tour Operators said holidaymakers might receive pro rata refunds for days lost since the disaster occurred. Thomas Cook said it was looking into the possibility of paying out for lost days but stressed this had not been confirmed. First Choice was also hesitant to discuss details of insurance and said it was a priority to get clients back safely.

Kuoni Travel, one of the biggest travel operators in the Far East, was less circumspect: "It is unlikely people's insurance will pay out because it was an act of God - most people's insurance won't cover it."

Those still due to go on holiday in the region found their bookings cancelled. They will be refunded for any holiday booked up until 31 December.

But the extent of the devastation means travel in several weeks' time is also in doubt.

Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Thailand are the most popular destinations in the region for British tourists, and all have been brutally damaged.

Although Kuoni Travel insisted parts of Phuket in Thailand were "running as normal", it will be left to tour operators to decide if it is safe enough.

Yesterday, tour operators scoured the devastated destinations for their clients. Ms Tuke said four empty aircraft had flown to Male in the Maldives and a fifth had flown to the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo.

Kuoni's spokeswoman said it had located most of its 2,500 British clients but was experiencing difficulty tracking down those in southern Sri Lanka. Of its clients, 950 were in Sri Lanka, 650 in the Maldives, 650 in Thailand and 200 in Malaysia.

Kuoni sent an extra Monarch Airlines plane to Colombo today to pick up passengers and Thai Airways was upgrading its UK-bound flights to 747 jumbos to accommodate Britons wishing to go home.

A spokesman for First Choice said 1,000 customers were in the region, but it had not located all of them. Thomas Cook was searching for 600 tourists, mostly in the Maldives and in Sri Lanka.