British Travel giant Thomas Cook collapsed on Monday leaving many people stranded globally. This means that all bookings, including flights and holidays have been cancelled.
Listed on The London Stock Exchange and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Thomas Cook had two business lines – as a Tour Operator and as an airline.
Thomas Cook’s administration puts 22,000 jobs at risk worldwide, including 9,000 in the UK. The company, whose roots go back to 1841, went into administration after last-ditch talks to raise fresh funding failed. Thomas Cook had asked for a bailout of £250m from the government but it was denied.
The website also has a message showing its current predicament, saying, “Thomas Cook UK Plc and associated UK entities have entered Compulsory Liquidation and are now under the control of the Official Receiver. The UK business has ceased trading with immediate effect and all future flights and holidays are cancelled. A dedicated support service is being provided by The Civil Aviation Authority to assist customers currently overseas and those in the UK with future bookings. Please visit: thomascook.caa.co.uk for further information.”
As at the last estimate, there are 600,000 people abroad trying to get home. The UK government is now trying to sort out the biggest peacetime repatriation in history.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps defended the move not to grant Thomas Cook a bailout.
“I fear it would have kept them afloat for a very short period of time and then we would have been back in the position of needing to repatriate people in any case,” he said on the BBC’s Today programme.
The company’s large debts and High Street-focused business made it a poor candidate for survival, he said.
Overall, Operation Matterhorn will cost the taxpayer around £100m, he added.
