There is now a ray of hope for about half of the 2,100 employees of the German subsidiary of the British travel agency Thomas Cook.
Over 1,000 will continue working in the sector thanks to the sale of the company’s Neckermann Reisen, Air Marin and Thomas Cook Signature branches.
The other employees will be jobless from next week, the company’s curators said on Thursday.
“It’s a sad ending for the clients and the employees, whom we haven’t been able to offer a solution for full continuation,” said Stefanie Berk, director of Thomas Cook’s German subsidiary.
After Thomas Cook filed for bankruptcy on 25 September last, the curators tried to find a solution for the entire company. “It was a Herculean task,” they said. There were many interested parties, but many pulled out due to the size of the enterprise and the financing costs, they explained.
However, buyers showed up for specific sections of the company.
Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, for example, will take over 106 of the 126 travel agencies, thus saving over 500 jobs. The Turkish travel agency, Anex Tour, will acquire Öger Tours, which specialises in travel to and from Turkey, along with the last-minute travel agency, Bucher Reisen, which together account for 84 employees.
Thomas Cook’s German subsidiary went bust following the collapse of the British mother company. All trips were cancelled, including those paid up in full or in part.
The Brussels Times
