Berlin (AFP)

The bankruptcy Monday tour operator Thomas Cook has triggered a huge repatriation operation for its 150,000 British customers on vacation. More uncertain, the fate of 450,000 others is played between several countries and subsidiaries of the group.

- Native country -

UK

Number of clients to be repatriated: 150,000

What is expected: the government launched early Monday the largest emergency repatriation operation since the Second World War, chartering 40 aircraft to conduct a thousand flights.

FRANCE

Number of customers to be repatriated: 9,842

What is planned: an emergency number (01.45.05.40.81) was set up for travelers currently on vacation and Thomas Cook advises its customers traveling Monday not to take the departure to "avoid further difficulties ".

GERMANY

Number of customers concerned: 140,000, the second largest contingent behind the 150,000 British nationals.

What is planned: the German government has no specific device, on the grounds that the law of the country requires tour operators insurance to compensate and repatriate customers in case of bankruptcy. That of Thomas Cook is the Swiss Zurich Insurance.

In addition, Berlin "examines" the request for emergency loan made by the airline Condor, a subsidiary of Thomas Cook based in Frankfurt. In the meantime, Condor continues to fly and will repatriate Thomas Cook's customers returning home on its lines, but no longer accepts them on the outbound flights.

NORTH EUROPE

Number of customers involved: 140,000

About 35,000 tourists from the Nordic countries are currently traveling via Thomas Cook, including 16,956 Swedes, 8,819 Danes and 9,000 Norwegians.

Nearly 6,000 tourists from the Nordic countries had their flights canceled on Monday, via Thomas Cook's Nordic affiliates: Ving (Sweden and Norway), Globetrotter (Sweden) and Spies and Tjäreborg (both Danish).

In Denmark, the other tour operators (Tui and Bravo Tours) have come to the rescue, without specifying the number of passengers they could convey.

The German tour operator TUI confirms to AFP ensure the return ticket of its holiday makers who have booked a stay in its hotels but who should have left by the company bearing the name of Thomas Cook.

BENELUX

Number of customers involved: 10,000 in the Netherlands, mostly in Europe and 10,000 Belgian nationals.

What is planned: until further notice, Belgian and Dutch customers are not immediately repatriated. "They can end their holidays," said a spokeswoman for Thomas Cook quoted by the Dutch press agency ANP. "There is an arrangement for them to finish their holidays," she said.

In the Netherlands, a foundation covers the costs of travelers who are injured, for example, by the bankruptcy of their travel agency.

AUSTRIA

Number of customers involved: around 5,000 according to the Austrian tour operators association.

The Government does not foresee any exceptional measures and recalls that these travelers are covered by insurance schemes for possible repatriations.

- On vacation spots -

CRISIS CELL IN GREECE

Number of guests on holiday: 50,000, including 22,000 in Crete.

The repatriation of foreign tourists has begun, said Minister of Tourism Haris Theocharis. An operational center has been set up in the ministry to handle all repatriation issues and the first 15 aircraft have arrived on the islands of Zakynthos, Corfu and Kos, he said.

INVOICES INVOLVED IN TUNISIA

Number of guests on holiday: 4,500

Tourists have already claimed the payment of invoices not paid by the tour operator this weekend, causing tension, including a hotel in Hammamet.

A crisis unit was activated Sunday to respond to the concerns of travelers and hotels.

HELPING PARTNERS IN TURKEY

Number of guests on holiday: 21,000

The Ministry of Tourism in Turkey announced Monday that it would implement "as soon as possible" a credit program to help local businesses affected by the sudden bankruptcy of the tour operator.

THE BULGARIAN TOURISM SECTOR AFFECTS

Number of guests on holiday: 2,500 British tourists.

Thomas Cook is one of the main tour operators with whom Bulgaria works. "His bankruptcy will have a tsunami effect on Bulgarian tourism," the director of the Bulgarian Institute for Tourism Analysis Roumen Draganov told public radio.

Thomas Cook organizes the holidays in Bulgaria of about 300,000 British and German tourists a year. The company has about fifty hotels on the coast of the Black Sea.

CYPRUS CONCERNED

Number of guests on holiday: 15,000, including 7,500 Britons.

The Thomas Cook Group accounts for 4.1% of the annual traffic of Cypriot airports.

© 2019 AFP