24 September 2019 : After the massive Xenophobia attack in South Africa, the entire country whoopeed Air Peace for airlifting 350 Nigerian citizens in the first phase of the repatriation from South Africa. Phase two is a plan to airlift another 320 citizens.
Business insider SSA felt the Nigerian government and Air Peace are basking in the glory for too long, so they stepped on and questioned the Nigerian government as to why they did not step up in their evacuation efforts as compared to the astronomical repatriation they carried out in Libya in 2018.
The government was still processing the dig, when United Kingdom stepped in and said “ Let us show you how it’s done!”. The British Nation upstaged Nigeria to carry out the largest citizen-repatriation exercise in recent history- by planning to airlift 150,000 UK citizens that have been stranded globally, after the 178 year old travel agency Thomas Cook declared bankruptcy.
The British global company was Founded by Thomas Cook in 1841. The firm gloated 22,000 employees, operating in 16 countries and an annual sale revenue of £9 billion; but, the fairytale dint last for too long and the agency faced crippling competition from online firms. They started facing debilitating cash crunches, but somehow kept the ship sailing by raising cash through Bank loans in 2011, Shareholder Loans in 2013, but nothing kept the ship afloat. Eventually every including the UK government bailed out on them owing to their ancient business model. The firm carried a debt of £1.6 billion which it obviously was unable to pay, and hence declared Bankruptcy. They declared their collapse on Twitter :
“We are sorry to announce that Thomas Cook has ceased trading with immediate effect.
This account will not be monitored.”
Unfortunately, people who had booked travel packages with them prior to their “proclamation” were left high and dry after their packages got cancelled. The same day the UK government and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) decided to step-in making an announcement
"Following the collapse of Thomas Cook and the cancellation of all its flights, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced that the government and UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has hired dozens of charter planes to fly customers home free of charge.
All customers currently abroad with Thomas Cook who are booked to return to the UK over the next 2 weeks will be brought home as close as possible to their booked return date.
The flights will start operating from today (23 September 2019).”
They also added
“For flights back to the UK, it doesn’t matter whether customers are ATOL protected or not, or what their nationality is. Everyone on a Thomas Cook holiday with a return flight to the UK within the 2 weeks will be brought home.”
What is the cost that would be borne by the UK government?
According to Bloomberg, the estimated cost is £79 million (N35.7 billion), although Travel package insurance will cover most of the cost.
Who is ATOL?
UK and European law has mandated that travel companies like Thomas Cook who offer holiday packages (flight + hotel and more) need to protect travelers against unforeseen circumstances that may adversely affect their trip, including folding up of the travel company. This gave birth to the Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (ATOL) in 1973, a financial protection scheme which is run by the UK's Civil Aviation Authority. All travel company members are required to pay £2.50 for each traveler they sign up. The contributions are held by the UK's Air Travel Trust (ATT) fund.
Reporting for EasyKobo on Tuesday , 24 September 2019 in Lagos, Nigeria