Civil Aviation Authority News

27 Sep 2019

In the first four days of Operation Matterhorn the CAA has flown back around 61,000 people - over 40 per cent of the total of 150,000 people who are due to complete their holiday by 6 October

  • UK Civil Aviation Authority launched largest peacetime repatriation ‘Operation Matterhorn’ on 23 September 2019 to bring more than 150,000 people back to the UK
  • Yesterday, 69 flights operated to bring back around 15,000 passengers
  • In the first four days of our operation we have now successfully flown home around 61,000 people, over 40 per cent of the total number
  • So far, we have flown around 95 per cent of people back to the UK on the original day of departure of their Thomas Cook flight
  • 72 flights are scheduled to operate today (27 September) to bring back around a further 16,000 people
  • Operation Matterhorn continues until Sunday 6 October with more than 1,000 flights planned in total

Richard Moriarty, Chief Executive at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said: “Despite the challenges of this unprecedented situation, I am pleased that our Operation Matterhorn is on track with around 61,000 people flown home in the first four days – over 40 per cent of the total. Around 95 per cent of people have flown home on their original date of departure at the end of their holiday. An operation of this scale and complexity will inevitably cause some inconvenience and disruption and I am very grateful to holidaymakers for bearing with us as we work around the clock to bring them home.”

Thomas Cook customers are reminded to check the dedicated website for further information – thomascook.caa.co.uk. 

Flying programme information:

Statistics

Day 4 – 26/09/19

Totals to date

Flights completed

  69

  275

Passengers returning in the UK

  15,259

  61,121

 

Note:

The number of passengers reported is based on Thomas Cook booking data. It is likely that some passengers booked on these flights will choose to make alternative arrangements and therefore not fly, thus reducing the actual number of people who travel on our aircraft. The exact numbers will not be known until the end of the programme.  

Contact Information

UK Civil Aviation Authority Press Office
press.office@caa.co.uk