Thomas Cook, the world’s oldest travel firm, collapsed today, stranding hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers around the globe and sparking the largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history.
The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority said Thomas Cook had now ceased trading and the regulator would work with the government to bring the more than 150,000 British customers home over the next two weeks.
“Due to the significant scale of the situation, some disruption is inevitable, but the Civil Aviation Authority will endeavour to get people home as close as possible to their planned dates,” it said in a statement in the early hours of Monday.
“Thomas Cook has ceased trading so all Thomas Cook flights are now cancelled,” it said.
The firm runs hotels, resorts and airlines for 19 million people a year in 16 countries. It currently has 600,000 people abroad, forcing governments and insurance companies to coordinate a huge rescue operation.
Pictures posted on social media showed Thomas Cook planes being diverted away from the normal stands, and being deserted as soon as they had landed.
The company, founded in 1841, has been fighting for its survival after its lenders threatened to pull the plug on a rescue deal that has been months in the making.
Hurt by high levels of debt, online competition and geopolitical uncertainty, Thomas Cook needs to find another £200 million (RM1.04 billion) on top of a £900 million package it had already agreed, to see it through the winter months when it needs to pay hotels for their summer services.
At the meeting today the company was asking its lenders to restructure or lower their demands. It has also asked credit card companies to release £50 million that they hold as collateral against the company’s bookings.
The company’s largest shareholder, China’s Fosun, was due to take a central role in the restructuring.
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