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LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Thomas Cook, the world's
oldest travel firm, collapsed on Monday, stranding hundreds of
thousands of holidaymakers around the globe and sparking the
largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history.
The UK's Civil Aviation Authority said Thomas Cook had now
ceased trading and the regulator would work with the government
to bring the more than 150,000 British customers home over the
next two weeks.
"Due to the significant scale of the situation, some
disruption is inevitable, but the Civil Aviation Authority will
endeavour to get people home as close as possible to their
planned dates," it said in a statement in the early hours of
Monday.
"Thomas Cook has ceased trading so all Thomas Cook flights
are now cancelled," it said.
The firm runs 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.
Pictures posted on social media showed Thomas Cook planes
being diverted away from the normal stands, and being deserted
as soon as they had landed.
(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)