Thomas Cook has ceased trading, the Civil Aviation Authority has confirmed as it launches a programme to bring stranded customers home.

Customers in the UK who have yet to fly have been advised not to go to the airport as all bookings, including flights and holiday, have been cancelled.

Peter Fankhauser, the chief executive of Thomas Cook, said the tour operator’s collapse was a “matter of profound regret” as he apologised to the company’s “millions of customers, and thousands of employees”.

The CAA has launched the UK’s biggest ever peacetime repatriation to bring more than 150,000 Thomas Cook customers home.

This is almost twice the number that were repatriated after Monarch Airlines failed in 2017.

Richard Moriarty, chief executive of the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said news of Thomas Cook’s failure was “deeply saddening”.

He added: “The government has asked us to support Thomas Cook customers on what is the UK’s largest ever peacetime repatriation.

“We have launched, at very short notice, what is effectively one of the UK’s largest airlines, involving a fleet of aircraft secured from around the world.

“The nature and scale of the operation means that unfortunately some disruption will be inevitable. We ask customers to bear with us as we work around the clock to bring them home.”

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