THOMAS COOK COLLAPSES
Huge operation begins to ‘rescue’ up to 600,00 people stranded abroad
THE world’s oldest travel firm Thomas Cook collapsed yesterday, stranding hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers around the globe and sparking the largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to get stranded British travellers home and revealed that the government had rejected a request from Thomas Cook for a bailout of about £150 million (RM780 million) because doing so would have set up a “moral hazard”.
“It is a very difficult situation and obviously our thoughts are very much with the customers of Thomas Cook, the holidaymakers who may now face difficulties getting home. We will do our level best to get them home,” he said on a plane as he headed to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The liquidation marks the end of one of Britain’s oldest companies that started life in 1841 running local rail excursions before it survived two world wars to pioneer package holidays and mass tourism.
The firm ran 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.
Chief executive Peter Fankhauser said it was a matter of profound regret that the company had gone out of business after it failed to secure a rescue package from its lenders in frantic talks that went through the weekend.
The United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority said Thomas Cook had ceased trading and the regulator and government had a fleet of planes ready to start bringing home more than 150,000 British customers over the next two weeks.
“I would like to apologise to our millions of customers, and thousands of employees, suppliers and partners who have supported us for many years,” said Fankhauser in a statement.
“It is a matter of profound regret to me and the rest of the board that we were not successful.”
Pictures posted on social media showed Thomas Cook planes being diverted away from the normal airport stands. Some were left deserted once passengers and staff had departed. Employees posted pictures of themselves walking from their last flights.
The authorities said disruption was inevitable due to the scale of the situation.
Customers were told not to travel to airports until they had been told via a special website — thomascook.caa.co.uk — that they were due on a return flight that was being organised by the government.
The British regulator is also contacting hotels hosting Thomas Cook customers to tell them that they will be paid by the government through an insurance scheme.