tehran times : Thousands stranded by XL = collapse

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View Rate : 163 = #=20 = =20 News Code : TTime- 177699 Print = Date :=20 Saturday, September 13, 2008=20 =

Thousands = stranded by XL=20 collapse

The collapse of the UK's third largest = package holiday=20 group has left tens of thousands of Britons stranded abroad.=20

The decision to place XL = Leisure Group into=20 administration has also left thousands of staff facing the axe.=20

Chairman Phil Wyatt said he was =E2=80=9Ctotally = devastated=E2=80=9D by the=20 failure which has grounded XL's 21 planes. The company flies to = about 50=20 destinations.

There are 67,000 stranded who booked = directly with=20 XL, and another 23,000 who booked via other companies.

The = Civil=20 Aviation Authority(CAA) also said the firm had 200,000 advance = bookings.=20

=E2=80=9CWe've made every effort, myself and my fellow = directors, to find=20 new funding for the business -- and it's a very sad day for me = personally.=20 I am totally devastated,=E2=80=9D XL chairman Phil Wyatt said. =

The CAA=20 said it was working with the travel industry to bring stranded=20 holidaymakers home, and denied it had been responsible for the = grounding=20 of XL's planes.

Airlines BA, Easyjet, BMI, Flybe and = Ryanair have=20 offered to fly some of the stranded passengers home.

David = Clover,=20 a spokesman for the CAA, said it was making arrangements to help = customers=20 of the four tour companies within the XL group. =

=E2=80=9CIn respect of=20 people who are currently abroad we're making arrangements and = working very=20 closely with the travel industry to organise repatriation flights. =

=E2=80=9CClearly though, with XL Airways no longer = operating, we're having=20 to bring in substitute aircraft to bring people home.=E2=80=9D =

He said=20 package deals are covered by the CAA's Air Travel Organisers' = Licensing=20 (Atol) scheme and those customers will be offered repatriation = flights or=20 their money back if they have an advance booking.

However, = those=20 who booked directly with the airline or XL.com - who are in the = minority=20 according to the CAA -- will face a fee.

Anyone yet to = take their=20 flights should check their insurance policies, and with their = banks or=20 credit card companies about refunds, he added.

XL is the = latest=20 travel business to face financial difficulties, as the industry = struggles=20 with high fuel costs and an economic downturn.

However an=20 agreement has been reached whereby Straumur investment bank has = acquired=20 XL's German and French subsidiaries, which Straumur considers to = be=20 financially viable and sustainable businesses.

They will = continue=20 operations as separate commercial entities.

Share prices = in=20 holiday firms TUI Travel and Thomas Cook were up 6% and 7% = following the=20 collapse of their rival.

Economic downturn =

=E2=80=9CAs the travel=20 industry matures in Europe, there was always going to be pressure = on those=20 operating in the mid-market,=E2=80=9D said Lastminute.com chief = executive Ian=20 McCaig.

A statement on the XL group's website said: = =E2=80=9CThe companies=20 entered into administration having suffered as a result of = volatile fuel=20 prices, the economic downturn, and were unable to obtain further = funding.=E2=80=9D=20

Mr. Wyatt added that spiralling oil prices had increased = the=20 firm's costs =E2=80=9Cyear-on-year by over $80m=E2=80=9D. =

=E2=80=9CSo where many people=20 have been making hay with high oil prices, this is the = repercussions of=20 that hay - 1,700 people potentially out of work today in the = UK,=E2=80=9D he said.=20

Rival TUI warned that rising fuel costs meant that = =E2=80=9Cairlines with=20 less than robust business models=E2=80=9D -- such as XL and Futura = -- were now=20 failing.

It added that the government should take steps to = ensure=20 all holiday companies must belong to the Atol scheme, which offers = package=20 holiday makers financial protection.

'Going nowhere' =

In=20 the U.S., one flight from Orlando to Manchester managed to set = off, while=20 one bound forn Gatwick was grounded. A source at the airport said=20 accommodation was being found for the =E2=80=9Cdistressed=E2=80=9D = passengers.

In=20 the UK, air traffic control prevented three XL aircraft from = taking off=20 from Manchester Airport.

The XL group, which is based in = Crawley,=20 West Sussex, runs an airline and owns several travel companies, = including=20 Travel City Direct, Medlife Hotels Limited, The Really Great = Holiday=20 Company, Freedom Flights and Kosmar Holidays.

The company = flies=20 mainly from bases at Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow airports.=20

Travel writer Simon Calder warned that many thousands of = XL=20 customers hoping to fly to the Caribbean, Mediterranean, North = Africa and=20 North America, from airports across the UK in coming weeks and = days=20 =E2=80=9Csimply won't be going anywhere=E2=80=9D.

Jim = Duwaine, from Portsmouth,=20 said he was given the news when he arrived at Gatwick where he had = been=20 due to catch an early morning flight to Menorca.

He said:=20 =E2=80=9CAbsolutely devastated. Got up at midnight planning on = going on holiday,=20 but got let down, unfortunately. We're here, just trying to get = some other=20 flights, but it's not looking good. I think everyone else has got = the same=20 idea.=E2=80=9D

Other holidaymakers have said they have = been quoted vastly=20 inflated prices for replacement flights.

Robert Spurgeon, = of=20 Norwich -- an XL customer who had been due to fly to Tenerife from = Gatwick=20 -- said: =E2=80=9CWe've not been told anything but my wife's been = quoted =C2=A32,000=20 for alternative flights.=E2=80=9D

Also among those = affected are a=20 130-strong choir on tour to Canada from Wales who were booked on = Zoom and=20 lost =C2=A350,000 when it folded last month, and then re-booked = with XL.=20

(Source: BBC)

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