German tour operator TUI has begun evacuating thousands of tourists stranded in Tunisia following attacks on hotels in Port el Kantaoui last week. Dressed in beach attire, Saif Rezgui opened fire on the beach of the Imperial Marhaba hotel on Friday, picking out foreigners and leaving Tunisians alive. A total of 37 people were killed.

As such, TUI Group airlines Jetairfly (Brussels National) and Thomson Airways (London Luton) have already availed aircraft to ferry tourists back to Europe from Djerba and Enfidha. Such is demand that capacity has also been chartered from local Tunisian operator Nouvelair (BJ, Monastir).

Once all have been evacuated, the TUI Group intends to suspend its services to the North African country pending an improvement in the security situation.