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A total of 61,000 Thomas Cook holidaymakers have been flown back to the UK, days after the Government launched the biggest peacetime repatriation effort in history.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said 40 per cent of customers have been brought home since the travel giant collapsed in the early hours of Monday, despite fears thousands would be left “stranded”.
The CCA says the repatriation scheme, named Operation Matterhorn, will continue until October 6 with more than 1,000 flights planned in total.
Another 89,000 British passengers will need to be brought back over the coming nine days, after 150,000 saw their flights cancelled by Thomas Cook’s sudden shutdown.
Thomas Cook collapse – In pictures
1/30
Passengers left stranded after the collapse of British travel firm Thomas Cook remain at Punta Cana’s international airport, in the Dominican Republic.
AFP/Getty Images
2/30
Thomas Cook passengers queue at Son Sant Joan airport in Palma de Mallorca
AFP/Getty Images
3/30
Stranded British Holiday makers board A380 in Palma to get back to the UK after insolvency of Thomas Cook
SplashNews.com
4/30
A British Government official speaks with passengers of the British travel group Thomas Cook at Son Sant Joan airport in Palma de Mallorca on September 23, 2019
AFP/Getty Images
5/30
British passengers wait for news on cancelled Thomas Cook flights at Palma de Mallorca airport.
AP
6/30
British passengers board an Airbus A380 airliner that is being used for transporting Thomas Cook customers at Dalaman Airport
Reuters
7/30
An airport worker speaks with passengers of the British travel group Thomas Cook at Son Sant Joan airport in Palma de Mallorca
AFP/Getty Images
8/30
British passengers cheer as they board an Airbus A380 airliner that is being used for transporting Thomas Cook customers at Dalaman Airport
Reuters
9/30
British passengers speak with Thomas Cook staff at Palma de Mallorca airport
AP
10/30
British passengers board an Airbus A380 airliner that is being used for transporting Thomas Cook customers at Dalaman Airport.
Reuters
11/30
British passengers wait for news on cancelled Thomas Cook flights at Palma de Mallorca airport.
AP
12/30
A general view of the Thomas Cook check-in desks in the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport
PA
13/30
The last Thomas Cook flight landing at Manchester Airport
Sky News
14/30
British passengers wait in a bus before they board an Airbus A380 airliner that is being used for transporting Thomas Cook customers at Dalaman Airport
Reuters
15/30
Holidaymakers have been left waiting as police and bomb disposal officers investigate the package at Manchester Airport
16/30
Police officers are seen as a suspect package was found at Manchester Airport
Reuters
17/30
A grounded airplane with the Thomas Cook livery is seen at Manchester Airport, Manchester
Reuters
18/30
Passengers are seen at Thomas Cook check-in points at Mallorca Airport after the world’s oldest travel firm collapsed stranding hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers around the globe and sparking the largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Reuters
19/30
Lewis Bromiley, 25, from Manchester, and his wife Amy Bromiley, who had booked a £7000 honeymoon to the Maldives in January 2020 with tour operator Thomas Cook
PA
20/30
Passengers are seen at Thomas Cook check-in points at Mallorca Airport after the world’s oldest travel firm collapsed stranding hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers around the globe and sparking the largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Reuters
21/30
The last Thomas Cook flight leaving Orlando, Florida minutes before the company announced it will immediately cease trading
Sky News
22/30
A man looks through the window of a closed branch of a Thomas Cook travel agent’s shop in London
AFP/Getty Images
23/30
Stephen Tarren, 51, and Joanne Deveraux-Ward, 49, from Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, at Gatwick Airport in Sussex. The pair bought new tickets for a trip to Cancun in Mexico after 178-year-old tour operator Thomas Cook ceased trading with immediate effect
PA
24/30
Passengers talk to Civil Aviation Authority employees at Mallorca Airport
Reuters
25/30
Passengers of British travel group Thomas Cook queue at Son Sant Joan airport in Palma de Mallorca
AFP/Getty Images
26/30
A British Government official speaks with passengers of the British travel group Thomas Cook at Son Sant Joan airport in Palma de Mallorca
AFP/Getty Images
27/30
Passengers disembark a Thomas Cook aircraft at Manchester Airport
Getty Images
28/30
Customers queue at the Thomas Cook check-in desks in the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport.
PA
29/30
A passenger passes Thomas Cook banners at Mallorca Airport
Reuters
30/30
Thomas Cook planes on the tarmac at Gatwick Airport in Sussex
PA
1/30
Passengers left stranded after the collapse of British travel firm Thomas Cook remain at Punta Cana’s international airport, in the Dominican Republic.
AFP/Getty Images
2/30
Thomas Cook passengers queue at Son Sant Joan airport in Palma de Mallorca
AFP/Getty Images
3/30
Stranded British Holiday makers board A380 in Palma to get back to the UK after insolvency of Thomas Cook
SplashNews.com
4/30
A British Government official speaks with passengers of the British travel group Thomas Cook at Son Sant Joan airport in Palma de Mallorca on September 23, 2019
AFP/Getty Images
5/30
British passengers wait for news on cancelled Thomas Cook flights at Palma de Mallorca airport.
AP
6/30
British passengers board an Airbus A380 airliner that is being used for transporting Thomas Cook customers at Dalaman Airport
Reuters
7/30
An airport worker speaks with passengers of the British travel group Thomas Cook at Son Sant Joan airport in Palma de Mallorca
AFP/Getty Images
8/30
British passengers cheer as they board an Airbus A380 airliner that is being used for transporting Thomas Cook customers at Dalaman Airport
Reuters
9/30
British passengers speak with Thomas Cook staff at Palma de Mallorca airport
AP
10/30
British passengers board an Airbus A380 airliner that is being used for transporting Thomas Cook customers at Dalaman Airport.
Reuters
11/30
British passengers wait for news on cancelled Thomas Cook flights at Palma de Mallorca airport.
AP
12/30
A general view of the Thomas Cook check-in desks in the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport
PA
13/30
The last Thomas Cook flight landing at Manchester Airport
Sky News
14/30
British passengers wait in a bus before they board an Airbus A380 airliner that is being used for transporting Thomas Cook customers at Dalaman Airport
Reuters
15/30
Holidaymakers have been left waiting as police and bomb disposal officers investigate the package at Manchester Airport
16/30
Police officers are seen as a suspect package was found at Manchester Airport
Reuters
17/30
A grounded airplane with the Thomas Cook livery is seen at Manchester Airport, Manchester
Reuters
18/30
Passengers are seen at Thomas Cook check-in points at Mallorca Airport after the world’s oldest travel firm collapsed stranding hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers around the globe and sparking the largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Reuters
19/30
Lewis Bromiley, 25, from Manchester, and his wife Amy Bromiley, who had booked a £7000 honeymoon to the Maldives in January 2020 with tour operator Thomas Cook
PA
20/30
Passengers are seen at Thomas Cook check-in points at Mallorca Airport after the world’s oldest travel firm collapsed stranding hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers around the globe and sparking the largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Reuters
21/30
The last Thomas Cook flight leaving Orlando, Florida minutes before the company announced it will immediately cease trading
Sky News
22/30
A man looks through the window of a closed branch of a Thomas Cook travel agent’s shop in London
AFP/Getty Images
23/30
Stephen Tarren, 51, and Joanne Deveraux-Ward, 49, from Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, at Gatwick Airport in Sussex. The pair bought new tickets for a trip to Cancun in Mexico after 178-year-old tour operator Thomas Cook ceased trading with immediate effect
PA
24/30
Passengers talk to Civil Aviation Authority employees at Mallorca Airport
Reuters
25/30
Passengers of British travel group Thomas Cook queue at Son Sant Joan airport in Palma de Mallorca
AFP/Getty Images
26/30
A British Government official speaks with passengers of the British travel group Thomas Cook at Son Sant Joan airport in Palma de Mallorca
AFP/Getty Images
27/30
Passengers disembark a Thomas Cook aircraft at Manchester Airport
Getty Images
28/30
Customers queue at the Thomas Cook check-in desks in the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport.
PA
29/30
A passenger passes Thomas Cook banners at Mallorca Airport
Reuters
30/30
Thomas Cook planes on the tarmac at Gatwick Airport in Sussex
PA
But according to the CAA, the repatriation has been largely successful, with 95 per cent of passengers flown home on the planned day of their departure.
The CAA’s chief executive Richard Moriarty said in a statement: “An operation of this scale and complexity will inevitably cause some inconvenience and disruption.
“I am very grateful to holidaymakers for bearing with us as we work around the clock to bring them home.”
The group said it used 69 flights 69 flights to bring back 15,000 people on Thursday alone, with some 72 flights scheduled for Friday to return another 16,000 people.
Meanwhile, Thomas Cook staff are due to gather at Manchester Airport today to raise the topic of unpaid wages.
The latest data from the Insolvency Service shows that 6,000 Thomas Cook staff in the UK have been made redundant and just over 3,000 employees are currently retained.
Thomas Cook was plunged into insolvency after last-ditch rescue talks to raise £250million in emergency funds failed.
