Crisis-hit Thomas Cook could be days from collapse.
The world’s oldest holiday firm is racing against time to secure an additional £200million funding.
Failure to do so could result in its plunging into administration.
If that happened, the Civil Aviation Authority would have to pay for 150,000 Britons abroad to be brought home – the biggest repatriation involving a UK firm.
Insiders say the bill could be £600million – 10 times the cost when Monarch Airlines failed in 2017.
An industry expert said: “Hotels would need to be paid to ensure they don’t kick out guests.”
Thomas Cook was on the verge of securing a £900million rescue deal led by Chinese firm Fosun, owner of Club Med, at the end of August.
But its lenders, led by taxpayer-saved Royal Bank of Scotland, demanded another £200million buffer.
Emergency talks are talking place to try to secure the funding which would safeguard the future of the travel giant and 20,000 workers – 9,000 of them in the UK.
The firm has 560 travel agents but any collapse would lead to shockwaves for other holiday firms that use it, or its airline.
However, time is running out, with insiders saying it has “days, not weeks” to find a solution.
The firm, set up in 1841, is reeling from £1.7billion of debt, dating back to its takeover of MyTravel in 2007.
It has to sell three million holidays a year just to cover the interest.
Other factors are the big shift in people arranging holidays themselves online and Brexit fears.
