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LONDON – A day after the brutal collapse of tour operator and British carrier Thomas Cook, forcing hundreds of thousands of travelers to make arrangements, the head of the British civil aviation authority promised that "no one" from his country would be stuck and affiliates in several countries were working to bring people home.
Thomas Cook said Friday that nearly 600,000 people were traveling abroad with his services, evoking hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded abroad after the company's dramatic collapse, but Initial reports suggested that governments and private companies were aiming to bring people home were underway.
In addition to the extensive repatriation effort in Great Britain, several companies that are either subsidiaries of Thomas Cook or use the name independently of its name, were still in operation and could assist passengers returning from China, France, and other countries. 39, Germany, India and the Netherlands. .
The repatriation of British travelers was described as the most important peacetime effort in the history of the country, and Deidre Hutton, President of the Civil Aviation Authority, Tuesday morning, during a speech in front of the BBC, about 15,000 people had already been repatriated by plane to Britain.
"No one is stuck, everyone will have their holidays and will be brought back by the time he returned anyway," she said. "I'm aware that we still have a huge job to do, because that's about 8% of the total, but a reasonable start."
An additional 74 flights were expected to bring an additional 16,500 people to Britain on Tuesday. Over the next two weeks, 135,000 additional passengers will be repatriated. Efforts will continue until October 6th. Passengers traveling after this date will have to make their own arrangements.
About 60% of the cost of flights was financed by a a government insurance program called an Air Travel Planner License, which means that Thomas Cook's customers who have booked a package tour (usually a combination of flights, hotels and rental cars) are guaranteed reimbursement of future canceled trips and repatriation.
Customers who have purchased Thomas Cook flights only do not have the same coverage and may be required to use personal travel insurance more often, if applicable.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the government should study how to avoid such situations in the future, and seems to support rules that would leave the responsibility for repatriation to travel agencies rather than to the government.
"How can we ensure that tour operators take the proper precautions in their business models to not result in a situation where the taxpayer, the state, has to step in and bring people home?" Said M Johnson. to Reuters.
He has criticized the company since New York, where he attends the United Nations General Assembly this week. Speaking at a climate summit on Monday, he asked how business leaders were succeeding in paying large sums as the company collapsed.
"I think it's a bit staggering that you can have 160,000 people stranded," Johnson said, according to Reuters. "It's impossible for me to know exactly what happened with Thomas Cook's board directors and how it went when they paid x, y or z."
He later tweeted monday night that he had met British Consulate employees in New York who were working to repatriate travelers and thanked the consular employees for their efforts. "This is a difficult time for those who have had a troubled vacation, but who are working hard to support them," he wrote.
The travel company had been struggling financially for some time and had announced its closure after negotiations to obtain at least 200 million pounds, or $ 250 million, in additional emergency funding, which had failed this week -end.
A Chinese subsidiary of Thomas Cook, which mainly addresses Chinese tourists traveling abroad, said on Monday that its activities would not be affected by the bankruptcy of the parent company.
The subsidiary, Thomas Cook China, said online that she "regretted" the bankruptcy of the British company and added that Thomas Cook China "has sound finances, that it has not been Affected by this case and that all its operations continue normally ".
The Chinese unit is a Shanghai-based joint venture between the parent company Thomas Cook and a Chinese majority shareholder, Fosun, a company that has invested heavily in tourism. Earlier reports indicated that Fosun owned 51% of the joint venture, the remaining 49% being held by the parent company Thomas Cook.
In addition to operating the joint venture with Thomas Cook, the Fosun Group is one of the major shareholders of the bankrupt British company. In previous months, Fosun had offered a rescue deal giving it a 75% stake in Thomas Cook's tour division, but the plan failed to get enough support from other stakeholders in the company.
In a statement to Agence France-Presse, Fosun said he was "disappointed". Shares of Hong Kong-listed Fosun units Fosun Tourism and Fosun International sold this week, reflecting investor concern over the Chinese group's international ambitions. financial health.
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