The tour operator Thomas Cook France declared itself in cessation of payments and will file a request for setting in receivership, at the end of a Central Works Council which was held Thursday, four days after the resounding bankruptcy of his mother house in London.
"The staff representative bodies unanimously approved the draft declaration of cessation of payments and the opening of judicial recovery proceedings (...) The objective remains to ensure the continuity of the activity of the French entity and to move quickly on a recovery solution, "said the subsidiary in a statement. Tuesday, the French subsidiary of the tourism giant Thomas Cook - which has 780 employees and 172 travel agencies owned in France - had announced placing "under the protection" of the Commercial Court of Nanterre "for recovery ".
All return flights insured until September 30
The decision to which the CCE gave its green light on Thursday "aims to preserve the best interests of the French entity, its employees, customers and partners", according to Thomas Cook France, which warns that "the date Court hearing is not yet known. " At the time of the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook Group, some 10,000 French customers were on holiday in the world. This figure has been reduced to 8.427, according to the French subsidiary, which identifies them as its "main priority".
Specifically, Thomas Cook France confirms that all the return flights of its customers are insured until September 30, its guarantor having taken charge of charter flights (charters) not paid by Thomas Cook France and concerning 2,182 customers.
But as part of this guarantee of the Professional Association of Tourism Solidarity (APST), "for the month of October, support is being confirmed," says the company. The tour operator said Tuesday that "several serious potential buyers of the tourism sector have already expressed their strong interest in Thomas Cook France", without further clarification. But no candidate for a recovery, even partial, has been publicly known.