Thomas Cook Collapses, Stranding 6 Lakh Tourists

Thomas Cook, the world’s oldest travel firm, collapsed on Monday, stranding hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers around the globe and sparking the largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history.

- Kate Holton & Guy Faulconbridge

The firm ran hotels, resorts and airlines for 19 million travelers a year in 16 countries, generating revenue in 2018 of 9.6 billion pounds ($12 billion). It currently has 600,000 people abroad, including more than 150,000 British citizens.

Thomas Cook employs 21,000 people and is the world’s oldest travel company, founded in 1841. The company has 1.7 billion pounds ($2.1 billion) of debt.

WHAT HAPPENS TO TOURISTS?

The British government has asked the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to launch a repatriation program over the next two weeks, from Monday to Oct. 6, to bring Thomas Cook customers back to the UK.

“Due to the significant scale of the situation, some disruption is inevitable, but the Civil Aviation Authority will endeavor to get people home as close as possible to their planned dates,” it said.

A fleet of aircraft will be used to repatriate British citizens. In a small number of destinations, alternative commercial flights will be used.

About 50,000 tourists are stranded in Greece, mainly on islands, a Greek tourism ministry official told Reuters on Monday.