Britain Doubles Itâs Losses of Travel Carriers

Britain Doubles It’s Losses of Travel Carriers

A second British vacation company has gone under, shortly after the country's third-largest tour operator collapsed. XL Leisure Group went into administration in early September, leaving close to 50,000 of its customers stranded in various locations abroad. Administration in the U.K. is a procedure for struggling companies, comparable to Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S.

The Civil Aviation Authority said it had so far arranged 94 repatriation flights to ferry home over 22,000 XL customers left without transport when the company failed. It said it would be focusing efforts on returning those who were due to fly home over the weekend and anticipated that most of them should be back in Britain by Monday. They plan on continuing repatriation flights over the next two weeks to allow XL customers to complete their vacations.

The second and newest operator to bust is K & S Travel, which ceased trading on Saturday. Thankfully for its customers, who feared being stranded like those of XL, their return trips are covered by a bond, K & S reported. The group specializes in travel to Turkey and is a very small operation, with only 150 passengers currently overseas. However, about 400 people with reservations would have their vacations canceled and receive full refunds.

Airlines and travel groups have been badly hurt by soaring fuel prices and a weakening economy. Many have greatly reduced their operating schedules, while others have gone out of business. In August, the Canada-based budget carrier Zoom, which also offered service to Britain, shut down. Silverjet, a business class carrier based north of London, ceased operations in June. Presently there is also a careful watch being kept over Alitalia, Italy's national airline, as it is teetering on the edge of collapse. It risks having to ground flights for lack of fuel unless a last-minute rescue plan can be arranged.

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