UK: Thomas Cook collapses

The largest peacetime repatriation effort in UK’s history has begun after British travel firm Thomas Cook collapsed on Monday, September 23, stranding 600,000 holidaymakers around the globe, reported CNN.

The company went out of business after it failed to secure a rescue package from its lenders in frantic talks that went through the weekend.

British Prime Minister Boris said Thomas Cook had made a request to the government for around £150 million (US$186.5 million), pounds but that bailing it out would have set up “a moral hazard in the case of future such commercial difficulties that companies face.”

“I would like to apologize to our millions of customers, and thousands of employees, suppliers and partners who have supported us for many years,” Chief Executive Peter Fankhauser said in a statement released early on Monday morning.

“It is a matter of profound regret to me and the rest of the board that we were not successful.”

The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said stated Thomas Cook had ceased trading and the regulator and government had a fleet of planes ready to start bringing home the more than 150,000 British customers over the next two weeks.

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