Airlines Thomas Cook Group ceases operations

The company said in a statement, that the proposed recapitalization plans had not been successful. Despite discussions, the company was not able to reach an agreement between the stakeholders and proposed new money providers.

Consequently, Thomas Cook airlines had to cease all flights as of yesterday. With immediate effect, the company´s board had to decided to take steps to enter into compulsory liquidation. According to the group, the application for liquidation has been made to the High Court and has been granted later the day.

As part of this process, other members of the Thomas Cook Group have entered into compulsory liquidation. German subsidiary airline Condor for example said that it would perform all flights as planned but will not accept passengers for outbound flights. Return flights can be boarded as planned, said the airline.

Regarding the liquidation of the group, Peter Fankhauser, Chief Executive of Thomas Cook commented: “We have worked exhaustively in the past few days to resolve the outstanding issues on an agreement to secure Thomas Cook’s future for its employees, customers and suppliers.  Although a deal had been largely agreed, an additional facility requested in the last few days of negotiations presented a challenge that ultimately proved insurmountable.”

“It is a matter of profound regret to me and the rest of the board that we were not successful. I would like to apologise to our millions of customers, and thousands of employees, suppliers and partners who have supported us for many years. Despite huge uncertainty over recent weeks, our teams continued to put customers first, showing why Thomas Cook is one of the best-loved brands in travel,” Fankhauser added.

Thomas Cook Group consisted of Thomas Cook Airlines, Condor, Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium, Scandinavia and Balearics. The group´s fleet consisted of 13 Airbus A320s, 49 A321s, nine A330-200s, three A330-300s, 15 Boeing B757-300s and 16 B767-300s.

The group was initially formed in 2007 by the merger of Thomas Cook AG and MyTravel Group. Main products were charter and scheduled passenger flights, all-inclusive holidays, hotels, resorts and cruise lines.