LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Peter Fankhauser, the chief
executive of Thomas Cook, apologised on Monday for the
liquidation of the world's oldest travel company.
Following are his comments in a statement:
“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.
“Generations of customers entrusted their family holiday to
Thomas Cook because our people kept our customers at the heart
of the business and maintained our founder’s spirit of
innovation.
“This marks a deeply sad day for the company which pioneered
package holidays and made travel possible for millions of people
around the world.”
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Kate Holton)