Thomas Cook collapse latest – 150,000 Brit holidaymakers to be rescued by fleet of more than 40 jumbos
A RESCUE fleet of more than 40 jumbo jets will bring 150,000 stranded holidaymakers back to the UK after Thomas Cook collapsed last night.
The Sun can reveal ministers have chartered dozens of aircraft as they plan the UK’s biggest repatriation since World War Two.
Follow our LIVE BLOG for all the latest updates and announcements.
The 178-year-old British travel firm had until 11.59pm last night to pay the £200million it owed its creditors or else they’d go under.
As many as 9,000 British employees among 21,000 staff globally now face losing their jobs after the world’s oldest travel company plunged into bankruptcy.
Thomas Cook will officially enter administration when the London stock exchange opens at 8am this morning.
Travellers expecting to board Thomas Cook planes in the UK today have been told to stay at home as ALL flights are grounded permanently.
What we know so far…
- Thomas Cook has ceased trading and will go into administration when the stock market opens at 8am
- Customers due to fly out of the UK with Thomas Cook today have been told to stay at home
- Thomas Cook planes are heading back to their UK bases and are being grounded
- As many as 9,000 British employees among 21,000 staff around the world stand to lose their jobs
- The largest peacetime repatriation of British citizens – dubbed Operation Matterhorn – will begin in the coming hours
- As many as 150,000 British holidaymakers face uncertainty over how they’ll get home
The final Thomas Cook plane in operation landed at Manchester Airport at 5am this morning after taking off from Orlando, Florida.
Announcing it was ceasing trading, Thomas Cook said on its website: “All future flights and holidays are cancelled.”
The brief statement added: “A dedicated support service is being provided by The Civil Aviation Authority to assist customers overseas and those in the UK with future bookings.”
Worried customers were asked to visit for more information – although the site has crashed several times.
Have you been affected by the Thomas Cook chaos? We want to hear from you. Email tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368
PLANES ON THE WAY
It is thought planes were already being sent to holiday spots last night to start bringing Brits home after plane spotters saw aircraft take off.
But the Civil Aviation Authority warned: “Due to the significant scale of the situation, some disruption is inevitable.”
The watchdog added in a statement that it “will endeavour to get people home as close as possible to their planned dates.”
Thomas Cook was forced to deny claims it could take up to two weeks to bring holidaymakers home – insisting homeward flights would be close to customers’ original return dates.
But it was unclear what will happen to the firm’s 400,000 foreign customers now stranded in resorts around the world.
Transport Secretary Grant Schapps added: “Thomas Cook’s collapse is very sad news for staff and holidaymakers.
“The Government and UK CAA is working round the clock to help people.
“Our contingency planning has helped acquire planes from across the world – some from as far away as Malaysia – and we have put hundreds of people in call centres and at airports.
“But the task is enormous, the biggest peacetime repatriation in UK history.
“So there are bound to be problems and delays.
“Please try to be understanding with the staff who are trying to assist in what is likely to be a very difficult time for them as well.
Tips for tourists
Q: I’m out of the country on a Thomas Cook holiday – what happens now?
A: The Civil Aviation Authority’s Operation Matterhorn will coordinate the repatriation of customers at the end of their holiday.
Q: I only bought Thomas Cook flights. Am I still protected?
A: No. Unfortunately, only package holiday customers are covered by the company’s Atol licence. Rival airlines may offer special rescue fares.
Q: I am on a Thomas Cook holiday and my hotel is insisting I pay them again. What do I do?
A: Refuse to pay. You have already paid Thomas Cook. The hotelier will have to apply via Atol.
Q: I have booked a Thomas Cook holiday? What happens now they’ve gone bust?
A: Anyone who has booked a package holiday is also covered by Atol and can apply to the CAA for their money back.
JETS ‘SEIZED’
A Thomas Cook plane was “seized” at Manchester Airport with a “Notice of Detention of Aircraft” for non-payment of airport charges.
The travel company’s chief executive was earlier filmed looking glum leaving the tense crisis talks yesterday with this head down.
Dr Peter Fankhauser, 58, remained tight-lipped yesterday after he emerged from the eight-hour meeting in central London.
But he said this morning the tour operator’s collapse was a “matter of profound regret” as he apologised to the company’s “millions of customers, and thousands of employees”.
Thomas Cook – which began in 1841 with a one-day train excursion in England – failed to convince lenders to cut the money it owed to see them through the winter period.
GOVERNMENT PLEDGE
The devastating news came after Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab insisted none of the 150,000 holidaymakers currently abroad with the tour giant would be left “stranded”.
But he sparked trade union fury by signalling the Government would NOT be pumping in a £200million bailout.
He said: “We don’t systematically step in with taxpayers’ money when businesses are going under unless there’s a good strategic interest for doing so.”
Sources told The Sun that Ministers had been working with the aviation watchdog on contingency plans for weeks.
The salvage scenario has been dubbed Operation Matterhorn.
One insider said: “We’re ready if we’re needed.
“The key is that not everyone will have to come home straight away if it comes to that.
“People will be able to finish their holidays.”
The Government’s desperate hunt for spare jumbos has been harder by the forced grounding of the Boeing 737 Max over safety fears.
JUMBOS TO THE RESCUE
Worried holidaymakers spent yesterday frantically trying to work out if they would be booted out of their hotel – as creditors and directors thrashed out last-ditch survival plans.
Guests at one hotel in Tunisia were allegedly locked in by security guards as staff demanded extra money – worried they won’t be paid by Thomas Cook.
Ryan Farmer, from Leicestershire, told BBC Radio Five’s Stephen Nolan the hotel had on Saturday afternoon summoned all guests who were due to leave to go to reception “to pay additional fees”.
HELD HOSTAGE
With many tourists refusing to pay on the grounds they had already paid Thomas Cook, security guards were keeping the hotel’s gates shut, refusing to allow guests out, or to let new visitors enter.
“We can’t leave the hotel. I’d describe it as exactly the same as being held hostage,” Mr Farmer said.
Furious Labour MPs and union leaders demanded Ministers save the holiday giant – claiming the cost of the company going bust would run above £600 million in redundancy and pension costs.
Critics said the Government appeared to have learned nothing since the Monarch collapse in 2017.
Pilots union Balpa yesterday: “Thomas Cook is at the last chance saloon today and decisions about staff and passengers are being taken in secret.
“It’s a much bigger scale than Monarch.
“There is a real risk that if the worst comes to the worst proper arrangements may not be in place for the repatriation programme and staff are still working while not knowing if they have a job or will even get paid for this month.”
'Profound regret': Thomas Cook CEO Dr Peter Fankhauser on the company's collapse
“Although a deal had been largely agreed, an additional facility requested in the last few days of negotiations presented a challenge that ultimately proved insurmountable.
“It is a matter of profound regret to me and the rest of the board that we were not successful.
“I would like to apologise to our millions of customers, and thousands of employees, suppliers and partners who have supported us for many years.
“Despite huge uncertainty over recent weeks, our teams continued to put customers first, showing why Thomas Cook is one of the best-loved brands in travel.
“Generations of customers entrusted their family holiday to Thomas Cook because our people kept our customers at the heart of the business and maintained our founder’s spirit of innovation.
“This marks a deeply sad day for the company which pioneered package holidays and made travel possible for millions of people around the world.”
- GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk