The U.K Civil Aviation Authority is organizing the return of
more than 150,000 travelers following the collapse of Thomas Cook Group. The
tour operator canceled all Thomas Cook Airlines flights and closed all retail
shops when it was unable to raise funding to continue operations.
In what is being called the largest peacetime repatriation
effort in the U.K.'s history, the CAA is chartering flights and working with
other airlines to bring back passengers. The effort will last for two weeks. Passengers
scheduled to return after Oct. 6 will have to make their own arrangements,
according to the CAA. The effort is even larger than the one following the
collapse of Monarch Airlines in 2017, in which about 110,000 passengers
were stranded abroad when the airline ceased operations.
While the vast majority of Thomas Cook Group's business is
leisure, the company had been making
overtures to business travelers in recent years, particularly with its
Germany-based Condor airline. Condor's flights were still operating Monday, and
the German government is considering a loan to keep it running, according to
Bloomberg. Earlier this year, Lufthansa Group made
an offer to acquire Condor, but Lufthansa has not released further details
on its bid.