Thomas Cook Germany announced today, Wednesday, that it has filed for bankruptcy after the German government hesitated to approve a request for a short-term loan submitted by the company yesterday, Tuesday. According to Deutsche Welle, the German company is believed to have been unable to withstand the fallout from the bankruptcy of its parent company in Britain.
According to the website, there are currently about 140,000 tourists on holiday outside Germany on trips run by companies operating under Thomas Cook's management, such as Neckermann, Öger Tours, Air Marin and Bucher Reisen, and the fate of these tourists after the company's bankruptcy is not yet known.
Stefanie Berk, chair of the management board of Thomas Cook, said: "We would of course have preferred to avoid this legal step, but we were unable to reach a quick solution through negotiations." She explained that the aim of filing for bankruptcy is to present a plan for restructuring measures for the company through the courts.
The competent court is expected to appoint a restructuring expert today, Wednesday, to oversee the company's relaunch within the framework of the bankruptcy proceedings.
Thomas Cook had applied to the federal government in Germany for an emergency bridging loan to help it avoid bankruptcy, just as the government had helped the travel company Condor with an emergency loan worth 380 million euros. But with the government not having made a decision so far, the company decided to stop selling tickets for its trips the day before yesterday, Monday.
