英国旅游业巨头破产 六十万游客滞留世界各地
有178年历史的英国旅游业巨头托马斯库克当地时间9月23日凌晨宣告破产，60万名正在度假的游客滞留在世界各地。该公司在全球十几个国家的2万多名员工，也在一夜之间丢了工作。这一切难道都是因为夏天太热？
Passengers gather at Thomas Cook check-in points at Mallorca Airport on Monday in Spain, after the world’s oldest travel company collapsed, stranding many holidaymakers. [Photo/Agencies]
拥有178年历史的英国旅游及航空公司托马斯库克本周一（9月23日）凌晨宣布破产，暂停运营，导致数十万游客滞留在世界各地。
Thomas Cook, a 178-year-old British travel company and airline, declared bankruptcy early Monday morning, suspending operations and leaving hundreds of thousands of tourists stranded around the world.
stranded [strændɪd]：adj.搁浅的；陷于困境的风，毫无预兆地席卷整片旷野，撩动人的思绪万千。
这家旅游公司旗下的航空公司有近50架中远程喷气式飞机，并拥有数家规模较小的航空公司和子公司，其中包括德国秃鹰航空。截至上周日晚间，托马斯库克仍有几架航班在空中飞行，但预计一旦飞机抵达目的地，就会停飞。
The travel company operates its own airline, with a fleet of nearly 50 medium- and long-range jets, and owns several smaller airlines and subsidiaries, including the German carrier Condor. Thomas Cook still had several flights in the air as of Sunday night but was expected to cease operations once they landed at their destinations.
秃鹰航空周日晚间在其网站上发布消息称，公司仍在运营，但尚不清楚是否会有变化。秃鹰航空本周一上午的预定航班似乎运行正常。
Condor posted a message to its site late Sunday night saying that it was still operating but that it was unclear whether that would change. Condor's scheduled Monday-morning flights appeared to be operating normally.
托马斯库克公司告诉美国有线新闻网说，公司倒闭时，大约有60万名客户在旅行途中，其中15万是英国人。
About 600,000 Thomas Cook customers were traveling at the time of the collapse, of whom 150,000 were British, the company told CNN.
英国交通部和民航局制定了代号为“马特洪恩行动”的计划，将滞留的英国乘客送回国。英国民航局表示，这些救援航班将持续运行到10月6日，这可能会导致乘客被延误至多两周。
The British Department for Transport and Civil Aviation Authority prepared plans, under the code name "Operation Matterhorn," to repatriate stranded British passengers. According to the British aviation authority, those rescue flights would take place until October 6, leading to the possibility that travelers could be delayed for up to two weeks.
第一批救援航班似乎很快就起飞了，被困乘客发推文称，他们在等待包机时，只被延误了几个小时。
Initial rescue flights seemed poised to begin immediately, with stranded passengers posting on Twitter that they were being delayed only a few hours as they awaited chartered flights.
British passengers board an Airbus A380 airliner that is being used for transporting Thomas Cook customers at Dalaman Airport after Thomas Cook, the world's oldest travel firm, collapsed stranding hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers around the globe and sparking the largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history, in Dalaman, Turkey, Sept 24, 2019. [Photo/Agencies]
有报道称，这是英国历史上规模最大的和平时期遣送行动，比2017年君主航空公司倒闭时实施的政府行动规模更大。
The scale of the task has reports calling it the largest peacetime repatriation effort in British history, including the operation the government carried out when Monarch Airlines collapsed in 2017.
这些航班的费用预计将由ATOL（航空旅行组织者许可证）保护计划承担。如果一家航空公司停止运营，该基金将为英国游客提供遣送服务。
Costs of the flights were expected to be covered by the ATOL, or Air Travel Organiser's License, protection plan, a fund that provides for repatriation of British travelers if an airline ceases operations.
据《卫报》报道，英国航空公司和易捷航空公司的飞机，以及租赁公司和其他航空公司的包机，都将参与运送被困乘客返回英国。托马斯库克航空公司的目的地包括欧洲大陆部分地区、非洲、美国、加勒比海地区和中东。据英国广播公司报道，上周日晚上，救援飞机被派往这些目的地。
Airplanes from British Airways and easyJet would be among those transporting stranded passengers home, according to The Guardian, as well as chartered planes from leasing companies and other airlines. Thomas Cook Airlines' destinations included parts of mainland Europe, Africa, the US, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. Airplanes were being flown to those destinations on Sunday night, according to the BBC.
直到上周日晚上，该公司还在英国售票。
The company was still selling tickets until Sunday night in the UK.
一位来自英国普利茅斯的旅行者在托马斯库克公司预订了2020年8月去希腊扎金索斯岛度假的行程，她告诉商业内幕网说，她发现该公司在上周日下午直接扣款了600多英镑（约合人民币5310元），而她本应在本周四再支付这笔款项。目前还不清楚她是否能够通过破产声明要回这笔钱。
One Plymouth, England-based traveler who had booked a vacation to the Greek island of Zakynthos for August 2020 told Business Insider that she saw Thomas Cook had charged her more than £600 by direct debit on Sunday afternoon for the trip but that she was not due to be charged until Thursday. It was unclear whether she would be able to recoup the funds with the bankruptcy declaration.
recoup [rɪ'kuːp]：vt.收回；恢复；偿还；扣除风，毫无预兆地席卷整片旷野，撩动人的思绪万千。
A pedestrian walks past a Thomas Cook shop in central London, Nov 26, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]
托马斯库克以及代表其9000名英国雇员中部分员工的工会已向英国政府寻求一项紧急融资计划。然而，据英国广播公司报道，政府消息人士“对介入拯救该公司的想法提出了质疑”。该公司在全球拥有2.1万名员工。
Thomas Cook, as well as a union representing some of its 9,000 UK employees, had sought an emergency funding plan from the British government. Government sources, however, "had questioned the financial wisdom of stepping in to save the company," according to the BBC. The company employs 21,000 globally.
尽管托马斯库克在2011年成功地从破产风险中复苏，但它仍受到挥之不去的债务拖累。在过去的两个夏季旅游季节里，由于猛烈的热浪导致许多英国人呆在家里，公司也受到旅游需求下降的影响。据《每日电讯报》报道，英国脱欧的不确定性和英镑疲软也起到了推波助澜的作用。
While Thomas Cook managed to recover from a risk of insolvency in 2011, it continued to be held back by lingering debts. It also suffered by lower demand over the past two summer travel seasons, as major heat waves led many Britons to stay home. Brexit uncertainties and a weak pound also contributed, according to The Telegraph.
insolvency [ɪn'sɒlv(ə)nsɪ]：n.破产，无力偿还；倒闭风，毫无预兆地席卷整片旷野，撩动人的思绪万千。
来源：中国日报网英语点津 编辑：许雅宁
传播中国，影响世界
欢迎关注中国日报网微信公众号