HIGHLIGHTS
• British tour company Thomas Cook collapsed after failing to secure rescue funding
• Bookings for 600,000 global vacationers were cancelled
• Britain said return of the firm's 150,000 British customers would be the largest repatriation in peacetime history
Longtime British tour company Thomas Cook collapsed after failing to secure rescue funding, and travel bookings for its more than 600,000 global vacationers were cancelled early Monday.
The British government said the return of the firm's 150,000 British customers now abroad would be the largest repatriation in its peacetime history. The process is set to begin later Monday and officials warned that delays are inevitable.
The Civil Aviation Authority said Thomas Cook has ceased trading, its four airlines will be grounded, and its 21,000 employees in 16 countries, including 9,000 in the UK, will lose their jobs. The company several months ago had blamed a slowdown in bookings because of Brexit uncertainty for contributing to its crushing debt burden.
The 178-year-old company had said Friday it was seeking 200 million pounds ($250 million) to avoid going bust and was in weekend talks with shareholders and creditors to stave off failure. The prominent firm, whose airliners were a familiar sight in many parts of the world, also operated around 600 UK travel stores.
We are sorry to announce that Thomas Cook has ceased trading with immediate effect.
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The company's chief executive Peter Fankhauser said, "This marks a deeply sad day for the company which pioneered package holidays and made travel possible for millions of people around the world."
He said a deal had been "largely agreed" but that "an additional facility" requested in the last few days presented an insurmountable challenge but provided no further details.
"I would like to apologize to our millions of customers, and thousands of employees," he said in a statement.
Britain's CAA said it had arranged an aircraft fleet for the complex British repatriation effort, which is expected to last two weeks.