More Britons hit in the Balearics as another tour firm grounds all flights

PALMA
AT least 500 British holiday makers have been left stranded in the Balearics after Britain's third largest package holiday company XL leisure Group went into administration yesterday grounding its air craft and leaving over 80'000 British holiday makers stuck at a wide variety of destinations.

The British tour firm operated four flights per week between the UK and Palma and one weekly flight between Gatwick and Minorca - that flight was due to have taken off at 8.50am yesterday and passengers were eventually transferred to another carrier which finally took off at 14.30 for Mahon Airport carrying British holiday makers in both directions.

In a statement on its web site, XL said its companies, which include Kosmar Villa Holidays and The Really Great Holiday Company, had suffered from volatile fuel prices, the economic downturn, and being unable to obtain further funding.

Alastair Beveridge, Nick Cropper, Simon Appell, and Stuart Mackellar have been appointed joint administrators. “The joint administrators cannot continue trading the business and therefore all flights operated by the companies have been immediately cancelled and the aircraft grounded. Going forward, the joint administrators are unlikely to be able to trade the business or operate the aircraft,” XL said.

XL advised all passengers who have yet to begin their journeys to make alternative arrangements.
Customers who booked a package holiday will have the cost of getting back home reimbursed through a scheme operated by Britain's Civil Aviation Authority but those who booked flights only are not protected by the scheme.

TUI Travel, Europe's biggest travel firm, said in a statement it was trying to help XL's customers stranded abroad get back to the UK.
However, TUI Travel's Chief Executive Peter Long criticized the inconsistency in the protection for holiday makers. “We at TUI Travel will help where we can but it is time the government realized that there needs to be a level playing field for all providers of overseas leisure travel arrangements.

Unfortunately, many people think they will be protected when this arises and this is not the case,“ he said. Earlier this week, Spanish charter airline Futura International, which is Europe's biggest independent medium-haul charter airline, also filed for administration and British tour firm Seguro Holidays was forced to cease operating as a direct result of Palma-based Futura's surprise action.

XL, which had undergone a management buyout in recent years, ranked third behind TUI Travel and Thomas Cook in UK holiday groups.
Shares in TUI Travel were 4.1 percent higher at 230-3/4 pence at 3:05 a.m. EDT, with Thomas Cook up 3.5 percent to 243-1/4 pence, investors expecting them to gain from decreased competition in the marketplace.