Last month, we reported on the demise of Thomas Cook in the UK. It left 150.,000 UK tourists stranded abroad, requiring the British Government to arrange repatriation flights. At the same time, the group’s German and Scandinavian airlines still continued to operate, albeit with great uncertainty.
Shortly after Thomas Cook’s confirmed collapse, Condor, the group’s German airline, requested and received an assurance of financial support from the German Government.
Today, the uncertainty ended for Ving, Thomas Cook’s Scandinavian subsidiary. The company, which operates twelve A321 and A330 aircraft, was purchased by a consortium of three investors, all based in the nordics.
The Thomas Cook Scandinavia website was updated to reflect the new company name, although the old Thomas Cook logo was still in use. New branding and livery are expected in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the entire Ving aircraft fleet will operate as Sunclass Airlines, with existing Ving bookings expected to continue as planned.
This is a good news story, not only for passengers with future bookings, but also the 3,000 employees, who have no doubt been watched the situation in the UK with grave concern.
As news of Sunclass broke in the UK, it was also announced that the Thomas Cook brand name had been purchased by Fosun for £11m. Fosun, the Shanghai business that owns Club Med, had previously participated in a rescue deal for beleaguered Thomas Cook. The rescue deal failed when banks refused to support it, rapidly sending Thomas Cook into administration.
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