The British Civil Aviation Authority said the 178-year-old company would stop trading, four airlines would land, and 21,000 employees in 16 countries, including 9,000 in the UK, would lose their jobs.
British travel group Thomas Cook passenger is waiting at Son Sant Joan airport in Palma de Mallorca on September 23, 2019 British government officials had to help Thomas Cook passengers after the company collapsed.
(AFP)
Veterans British travel agency Thomas Cook collapsed after failing to secure rescue funds, and travel reservations for more than 600,000 vacationers around the world were canceled early Monday.
The British government said that the return of 150,000 British customers abroad is now the largest repatriation in peace time history. The process is set to start after Monday.
Civil aviation authorities said Thomas Cook would stop trading, four airlines would land, and 21,000 employees in 16 countries, including 9,000 in the UK, would lose their jobs. A few months ago, the company blamed the sluggish reservation, one of the causes of sluggish debt, due to Brexit's uncertainty.
The 178-year-old company said it is seeking $ 250 million (£ 200 million) in emergency funding to avoid bankruptcy on Friday and is talking to shareholders and creditors on weekends to prevent failure. The famous company, which is familiar with airliners in many parts of the world, ran about 600 UK travel stores.
The UK's CAA says it has set up an aircraft fleet for a complex UK repatriation effort.
The airline said in a statement, "The situation is so large that some confusion is inevitable, but the Civil Aviation Authority will try to bring people home as close to the planned date as possible."
Most of Thomas Cook's UK customers are protected by a government-run travel insurance program, so vacationers can return home if a UK-based travel agent fails during an overseas trip.
It takes 600 million pounds to bring a holiday maker. It required 200 million pounds to save the business. Thousands of jobs are gone. Hundreds of thousands of holidays collapsed. What kind of government makes such a silly decision? # Thomas
Bill Esterson (@BellEsterson) 23 Sep 2019
Starting with a one-day train journey in the UK in 1841 and now operating in 16 countries, Thomas Cook has been struggling for the past few years.
It has recently raised $ 11.2 billion (£ 900 million), including receiving money from China's major shareholder, Fosun.
In May, the company reported a debt burden of £ 1.2 billion and warned that the political uncertainty associated with Britain's departure from the European Union in late October hurt the demand for summer vacation travel.
The heat in the last few years of Europe has left many people at home, and travel has paid for higher fuel and hotel costs in hotels.
The company's problem was already affecting people traveling under the Thomas Cook banner.
A British holidaymaker said Sunday at BBC Radio by Les Orangus Beach Resort in Hammamet, Tunisia near Tunisia. .
Ryan Farmer in Leicestershire said many tourists had refused demand because they had already paid for Thomas Cook, saying security personnel closed the hotel and "nobody left."
Palmer, who is scheduled to leave Tuesday, said, "It's like taking a hostage." He said the hotel would refuse to pay if asked.
Source: AP
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