70 aeroplanes have been scheduled to fly back about 16,000 people to the United Kingdom (UK) barely 4 days after British travel company and airline, Thomas Cook collapsed.
According to Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), over 150 Thomas Cook crew and 30% of the total number of passengers were flown back to the UK in the first three days of the operation.
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Nairametrics reported that Thomas Cook had shut down and was declared bankrupt, leaving 600,000 people stranded across the world. Reports have it that the company failed to meet a deadline to secure new funding and so had no choice but to collapse.
Thomas Cook had been trying to avoid collapse after the Royal Bank of Scotland and a range of other banks demanded that Thomas Cook Group Plc find £200 million ($250 million) in funding.
The news was conveyed by Thomas Cook’s Chief Executive, Peter Fankhauser in a statement released early on Monday morning.
What you should know: As at the time of the closure, around 600,000 Thomas Cook customers were reported to be travelling, some of whom were scheduled to fly to their destinations with the airline.
An operation was put in motion to solve the crisis on the ground by the British Department for Transport and Civil Aviation Authority under the code name “Operation Matterhorn,” where stranded passengers were assisted to get to their destinations.
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However, travellers, who had booked flights, could encounter up to 2 weeks delay in rebooking with another airline. Costs of the flights were expected to be covered by the ATOL or Air Travel Organiser’s License protection scheme, a fund which provides for repatriation of British travellers if an airline ceases to operate.
