A number of British holiday operators have cancelled all flights to Mexico, after the Foreign Office advised against all non-essential travel due to the outbreak of the swine flu virus.

Virgin Holidays, Thomson Holidays and Thomas Cook are among the companies that have decided to temporarily suspend operations to destinations in the Central American country for at least a week. Both Thomas Cook and Virgin Holidays have said that they have cancelled flights to Mexico until 6 May, while Thomson Holidays will not be resuming its operations to Cancun or Cozumel until 9 May.

A spokesperson for Virgin Holidays said: "While we appreciate this news will be disappointing to our customers, we hope they will understand that their health and safety is our number one priority." The companies have also announced that passengers affected by the cancellations will be given the opportunity to amend their travel plans to a different destination or to receive a full refund.

However, British Airways has announced that it is continuing to operate flights in and out of Mexico, although it is also offering passengers due to travel to the country within the next seven days the chance to select a different destination or to cancel altogether. The outbreak of swine flu has also caused shares in airlines and holiday operators to fall sharply on the global stock markets over fears that consumers will be less willing to travel.