The world’s oldest travel company, Thomas Cook, ceased trading, causing thousands of pre-booked holidays to be canceled. The company went into liquidation after it failed to pay GBP 200 million owed to creditors.
~9,000 British employees and ~21,000 staff jobs globally are now at risk. An estimated 150,000 UK vacationers are stranded, with no certainty on how they'll get back home or continue their vacations after Thomas Cook airline's flights were all canceled. Dozens of commercial aircraft have been chartered to bring stranded travelers back.
Along with resort and air holidays, the company sold its cruise business and many cruise lines linked to the travel company-released statements to their clients.
- Princess Cruises revealed it would handle Thomas Cook bookings directly and was “in the process of contacting all affected guests.”
- P&O Cruises said it would contact P&O customers (booked via Thomas Cook) and assured clients that all ABTA/ATOL-protected bookings would go ahead as scheduled. P&O UK would contact travelers booked onto Thomas Cook aircraft for their voyage with alternatives when confirmed.
- Other cruise companies shared their support for Thomas Cook, with Celebrity and RCI-Royal Caribbean contacting all affected bookings in sale date order.