London (AFP)
The United Kingdom on Monday completed the extraordinary repatriation operation in the country of 140,000 tourists, two weeks after the sudden bankruptcy of tour operator Thomas Cook.
The British Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced in a statement that this operation named "Matterhorn", the largest since the Second World War, will end shortly with a flight arriving in Manchester (north) from Orlando (USA) with 392 passengers on board.
A total of 150 aircraft have helped bring back some 140,000 people thanks to 746 flights since the launch of the repatriation on Monday, September 23, just hours after the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook.
"I want to thank all those who took part in this huge operation, including the passengers we brought home (...) I also want to pay tribute to Thomas Cook's wonderful former employees who worked with us to this operation a success, "said Richard Moriarty, Director General of CAA.
At the time of Thomas Cook's fall, a total of 600,000 tourists were on vacation with the tour operator. The United Kingdom has repatriated its holidaymakers and the fate of about 450,000 others is played between several countries and subsidiaries of the group that had not all immediately bankruptcy.
The group had 22,000 employees worldwide including 9,000 in the UK who lost their jobs.
At the time of its bankruptcy, the group had seen its cash flow decline and was short of money, which had pushed its banks to claim additional funding of 200 million pounds to ensure its long-term survival, and pave the way for a recovery by the Chinese Fosun.
In recent years, Thomas Cook has suffered from customers' reluctance due to Brexit's uncertainties and changes in consumption patterns among holidaymakers, leaving traditional agencies behind for online bookings.
© 2019 AFP