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23 September 2019Thomas Cook declared bankruptcy and now the authorities will have to organize the repatriation of 600,000 tourists in the world. The British travel giant did not manage to set up a rescue agreement that could prevent it from failing. This is what the British media have called "the largest repatriation operation ever made in time of peace". The plan to bring home about 165,000 vacationers from abroad is known by the code name 'Projetc Matterhorn' and is guided by the civil aviation authority.

The company, with 178 years of history behind it, has failed to collect the additional funding for £ 200m, which was used to avoid collapse. "The company board - reads a note - had no choice but to take the necessary steps to go bankrupt with immediate effect".

The French newspaper Le Figaro calculates that the group, put into liquidation "with immediate effect", leaves 600,000 tourists on holiday in the world, including 10,000 French. The tour operator has ensured that flights continue to be operational and tour operator packages are insured. "It is a time of great concern for Thomas Cook's staff and clients. The greatest repatriation in peacetime in the history of the United Kingdom will now bring people home. Foreign Office staff in the UK and abroad work uninterruptedly with the British Civil Aviation Authority and the Ministry of Transport ", British Foreign Minister Dominica Raab wrote on Twitter, who yesterday assured that" no one will be stuck abroad ".

Premier Johnson excludes any kind of government bailout because "other companies could expect the same treatment in the future". And he continues: "We need to study how tour operators can protect themselves from similar cases of bankruptcy in the future".

The collapse of Thomas Cook - whose main shareholder is the Chinese Fosun Tourism Group - will lead to the loss of a large number of jobs. The company has 21,000 employees in 16 different countries, of which 9,000 only in Great Britain. The marathon organized by Thomas Cook yesterday to bring together shareholders and investors in search of the funding needed for his salvation ended without an agreement.

Fosun last month had already injected £ 450m into the company as part of a £ 900m rescue package. In exchange for that investment, Fosun had acquired a 75% stake in Thomas Cook's operating division and 25% of its airline. "Fosun - reads another statement - is disappointed that Thomas Cook failed to find a solution for its recapitalization with other entities, its core creditors and senior shareholders".

Thomas Cook was born in 1841 to transport passengers with trains in the main British cities. Then it organized itself to manage travels abroad, becoming the first British tourist agency in Europe in 1855, in the USA in 1866, immediately after the end of the American civil war and in the rest of the world 1872.