World’s oldest and biggest travel companies Thomas Cook, has ceased operations stranding more than 600,000 vacationers who had booked through the company, reports CNN.
Efforts taken by UK Civil Aviation
Tim Johnson, policy director at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, told CNN Sunday night that authorities are working “around the clock” to bring stranded passengers home to Britain.
“First and foremost, this is a sad day for Thomas Cook, its employees and its customers. It’s a business that has been going for 178 years, so a very sad day and our thoughts are very much with them,” said Johnson.
“We’ve charted over 40 planes and we’re going to be running up to 1,000 flights in the next two weeks. It’s hugely challenging but we’ve given that commitment that we’re going to bring people home,” he said.
Repatriation arrangement details
The first repatriation plane will leave from New York’s JFK Airport back to Manchester Airport in England.
If you’re not flying back to the UK: The repatriation planes are only for about 160,000 passengers whose trips end in the UK.
There are hundreds of thousands more who are stranded, with return flights going elsewhere.
“Each country has a slightly different approach to these situations,” said Johnson. “It will be for the authorities in those other countries, whether that’s Germany or Scandinavia, to make the arrangements for other passengers in those other countries.”
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Source: CNN
