Thomas Cook collapses, leaving thousands of travelers stranded

UK’s ‘largest repatriation in peacetime history’ after Thomas Cook shuts : The 178-year-old British tour operator Thomas Cook Group Plc has collapsed under a pile of debt after talks with creditors failed, stranding hundreds of thousands of travellers, but the move will not have any impact on its India operations.

The company said in a statement that its board concluded that it had no choice but to take steps to enter into compulsory liquidation with immediate effect.

However, Thomas Cook India Ltd said in a statement that it is a completely different entity since August 2012 when it was acquired by Fairfax Financial Holdings, a Canada-based multinational with varied interests across the globe.

“Post the transfer of its entire stake in TCIL to Fairfax, Thomas Cook UK ceased to be the promoter of Thomas Cook India Ltd from the said date. Since then, Thomas Cook UK has had no stake in TCIL,” said its Chairman and Managing Director Madhavan Menon.

But the collapse of Thomas Cook Group Plc forced the British government to hire charter planes to bring thousands of customers of the company back home. The company filed for administration early Monday after eleventh-hour negotiations to raise additional funding failed to result in a deal. The move saw all bookings, flights and holidays with Thomas Cook cancelled.

In what it called the ‘largest repatriation in peacetime history,’ the government said it will work to return all those booked to come back to Britain over the next two weeks free of cost.

Diwaliya?