SCOTS holidaymakers will share thousands of pounds in compensation after travel giant Thomson cancelled its Glasgow flights on the revolutionary Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Hundreds of sunseekers who had hoped to board the new plane for holidays in Mexico and Florida will instead be flown out by the airline on its fleet of Boeing 767s.

The switch, which was reported in later editions of yesterday's Evening Times, comes weeks after all 50 Dreamliners in service around the world were grounded because of safety fears.

Thomson chiefs had ordered a fleet of 13 Dreamliners and one of them was to begin operating out of Glasgow – the only Scottish airport chosen by the holiday group – from May.

But Boeing engineers are believed to have gone back to the drawing board after a malfunction and battery fire in two separate incidents prompted international aviation regulators to ground every Dreamliner in January.

It could be months before regulators allow the Dreamliner to take to the skies again amid reports that engineers have been working around the clock on a new battery design.

Amid the uncertainty, Scots who had booked holidays to Cancun in Mexico and Sanford in Florida with First Choice – part of the Thomson holiday group – have been told their Glasgow flights in May and June have been cancelled and instead they are being switched to Boeing 767s, the standard long haul fleet used by Thomson Airways.

However, most passengers will be given a £20 refund while others who had booked premium class will receive £100.

With a Dreamliner able to carry 250 passengers, it means Thomson chiefs could have to stump up more than £5000 for every cancelled flight.

An airline spokesman said: "Thomson Airways regrets to confirm, in the absence of a delivery schedule from Boeing, we have taken the decision to activate our contingency plans and switch customers booked on the 787 Dreamliner in May and June to alternative planes.

"Our dedicated customer service team is in the process of contacting all customers impacted.

"We are equally as disappointed that Boeing was not able to confirm a delivery date for us but unfortunately these circumstances are out of our control."

gordon.thomson@ eveningtimes.co.uk