A travel service company in Beijing is facing considerable financial losses thanks to the recent wildfire in Russia that led many Chinese would-be tourists to back out of a trip to Moscow.

The vice-chairman of the company, surnamed Chen, said 33 of the 39 would-be tourists pulled out one day before they were set to leave after hearing accounts of the Moscow-area fire.

Reports said a choking cloud of smog caused by the raging wildfires shrouded Moscow last Friday and airborne pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, were said to have been four times higher than average, according to health officials.

Chen said that under the law, tourists who pull out of trips under such circumstances are still obliged to pay non-refundable costs, such as the price of air tickets. He said he settled on 5,700 yuan per person as the amount each individual who canceled should pay - around half what the actual holiday was to have cost.

But his call for payment led the tourists to complain to city media. They said they only pulled out because of "irresistible reasons" and complained that the company did not inform them about the fire near Moscow.

After the customers complained, the company agreed to bite the bullet and pay all the non-refundable costs.

Chen said they have already informed customers about the decision. He said some were repeat customers and membership-card holders.

The company also had to cancel a trip to Europe earlier this year because of volcanic ash over Iceland but, that time, Chen said, the airline canceled the flight and the company did not suffer a financial loss.

This time, however, Chen said neither have they received any official notice informing them that the situation is unsafe, nor has any airline company canceled flights.

He said previous group trips to Russia had not reported any problems, so he did not see any need to cancel the trip.

He said the company prepared facemasks for travelers that it planned to hand out during the instructional meeting on Aug 9, one day before they were due to leave.

They also changed the first port of call from Moscow to Saint Petersburg to avoid the smoke.

Teng Biao, a doctor of law at China University of Political Science and Law, said that for "irresistible reasons" such as natural disasters, the side breaking the contract could be freed from legal responsibilities. If the forest fire had produced poisonous materials, he said, it could be considered as an irresistible reason in a legal sense.