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Written question asked by Lord Myners (Crossbench) on Monday, 30 September 2019, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 14 October 2019. It was answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Conservative) on Tuesday, 8 October 2019 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Thomas Cook: Insolvency

Question

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost to the taxpayer of repatriating customers of Thomas Cook to the UK; and what are the significant factors which are likely to determine whether that estimate is an (1) over, or (2) under, estimate.

Answer

The Operation to repatriate customers of Thomas Cook is modelled on the successful repatriation of passengers after the collapse of Monarch Airways.

The final cost of the Monarch operation to taxpayers was about £50 million and the repatriation effort with Thomas Cook is estimated to be about twice the size and far more complicated as Monarch was an airline based in Europe, whereas Thomas Cook was a global travel group.

This is the biggest peacetime repatriation in UK history, involving more than 150,000 passengers, so any problems or delays could lead to additional costs.

The Government will, however, seek to minimise the impact on the taxpayer by entering into discussions with third parties with a view to recovering some of the costs of this large operation. We will also look to recoup some of the costs from relevant credit and debit card providers and travel insurers.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL17930
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Costs Insolvency Passengers Repatriation Thomas Cook
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk