London (AFP)
The British tour operator Thomas Cook announced Monday that it was going bankrupt after failing to find the necessary funds for its survival and will be placed in liquidation.
The authorities are going to have to organize a massive repatriation of some 600,000 tourists worldwide, including 150,000 for Great Britain, twice as many as in the bankruptcy of the British airline Monarch two years ago, the most important operation. for civilians since the Second World War.
"Despite considerable efforts (over the weekend), discussions between the various stakeholders of the group and new sources of possible funding did not result in an agreement, so the Board of Directors concluded that had no choice but to take steps to enter into liquidation with immediate effect, "the statement said.
In parallel, the British Aviation Authority (CAA) reported that the Thomas Cook Group, both a tour operator and airline, ceased operations with immediate effect. stays, are now canceled ".
Born in 1841, the world's oldest independent tour operator has 22,000 employees, including 9,000 in the United Kingdom.
The heavily indebted tour operator has seen its horizon darken in recent years because of fierce competition from low-cost travel websites and the reluctance of tourists worried about Brexit in particular. He had announced an abounding loss of 1.5 billion pounds for the first half, for a turnover of some 10 billion.
His fate was played out in a few days: creditors asked him last week to find 200 million pounds (227 million euros) of additional funding for an already accepted rescue plan of 900 million pounds and conducted by the Chinese Fosun, the first shareholder, to be validated.
Marathon discussions were held all weekend, but to no avail.
© 2019 AFP