Relief and confusion amongst Thomas Cook passengers as more board flights home

Record ID: 1432629

  • Title: Relief and confusion amongst Thomas Cook passengers as more board flights home
  • Date: 24th September 2019
  • Summary: MALLORCA, SPAIN (SEPTEMBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) PASSENGERS WALKING THROUGH AIRPORT WITH SUITCASES PASSENGERS QUEUING AT AIRPORT THOMAS COOK AND CONDOR BOOTHS AT AIRPORT STAFF DIRECTING PASSENGERS AT THOMAS COOK BOOTH PASSENGERS WALKING THROUGH AIRPORT WITH SUITCASES PASSENGERS QUEUING AT AIRPORT PASSENGER REMOVING SUITCASE FROM TROLLEY PASSENGERS WALKING THROUGH AIRPORT / PASSENGERS QUEUING (SOUNDBITE) (English) PASSENGER ANTHONY TENTS FROM EAST MIDLANDS SAYING: "Yeah, it was a bit stressful. Spent like few hours on the internet and everything, found out we had to get here early, got here early, been to four, five different checkouts. Nobody seems to really know what's going on. But it's just one of them really, isn't it? Just got to get through it. We're going to get home but it's just some of the people have lost their jobs, it's terrible, isn't it?" (SOUNDBITE) (English) PASSENGER CASSIE FROM BRISTOL SAYING: "Yeah it was really easy and really smooth for us, actually. We haven't had to wait anywhere, we're in the queue now to get our flight and then we're off home hopefully." PASSENGERS WAITING IN QUEUE BRITISH GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS TALKING TO PASSENGERS PASSENGERS IN QUEUE
  • Embargoed: 8th October 2019 08:19
  • Keywords: Mallorca Thomas Cook planes Mallorca airport cancellations delays passengers collapse travellers
  • Location: MALLORCA, SPAIN
  • City: MALLORCA, SPAIN
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Company News Markets,Economic Events
  • Reuters ID: LVA001AY0OZ7R
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:There was relief and confusion amongst Thomas Cook passengers as more boarded flights home on Tuesday (September 24), as repatriation efforts continued, with governments trying to organise flights for passengers stranded at Mallorca's Palma airport in Spain.
    Anthony Tents from the East Midlands was one of the passengers still left without a clear way forward after the company collapsed on Monday (September 23), saying he had "been to four, five different checkouts" but that "nobody seems to really know what's going on."
    However, he expressed sympathy for the staff who had lost their jobs. Thomas Cook employs 21,000 people worldwide, with 9,000 of those in the UK, but the company's employees working at the Spanish headquarters in Mallorca have thus far continued business as usual despite the collapse.
    Passenger Cassie from Bristol had a "really smooth and really easy" experience, not having to wait and being given a flight home as part of what is the largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history.
    The liquidation marks the end of one of Britain's oldest companies that began in 1841 running local rail excursions before it survived two world wars and became a pioneer of package holidays and mass tourism.
    The firm ran hotels, resorts and airlines for 19 million people a year in 16 countries. It currently has 600,000 people abroad, forcing governments and insurance companies to coordinate a huge rescue operation.
    (Production: Marco Trujillo, Catherine Macdonald, Silvio Castellanos, Jeevan Ravindran)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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