XL goes bust

XL goes bust

Postby symivisitor » 12 Sep 2008, 00:36

They own Kosmar.
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XL goes bust

Postby D and E » 12 Sep 2008, 07:46

The Times many weeks ago predicted a realignment in the airline business with some major names predicted to merge or go under but it is still a surprise that XL is an early casualty :o

We live in economically interesting and quite scary times here in GB :idea:

But to look on the bright side, and as long as another major tour company and associated airline stay in business, only 4 weeks to go :D
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XL goes bust

Postby Adriana » 12 Sep 2008, 10:25

The Kosmar rep on Symi will be posting a bulletin on this site shortly concerning Kosmar clients. At present she is being briefed by head office.

In the meantime, the following help line numbers have been provided:

For XL customers abroad who need to get home: +44 2891 856 547.
For those who have booked in advance with XL and are in the UK:
0870 590 09 27.

This affects not just those who have booked their holidays with Kosmar but also those who have booked flights only through XL.
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Postby MrsMcS » 12 Sep 2008, 14:15

Our euphoria at being back on Symi next year was short lived. Never mind it is the poor people who are booked for this year and who are already on holiday who I feel sorry for. At least we have time to book another holiday for next year, but alas it may well not be Symi now.
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XL goes bust

Postby maziemoo » 12 Sep 2008, 15:17

It certainly was discussed at length in the Live Chat Room last night. After a pretty sleepless night and an early text alert from a very dear :mrgreen: friend, I was able to snap into action and book alternative flights with Easyjet :) .

The bit that makes me angry :evil: though, is that XL were trying to sell me seats with extra legroom at a reduced price on Tuesday afternoon and yesterday afternoon I was talking to them about additional baggage allowance to bring something for a friend, for which they'd have taken the money there and then.

I want to say a huge thankyou to my friends here for giving me the early heads up on this without which I might have found myself holidying in wet and cold Thame instead.

To say I feel really sorry for those in a less fortunate situation than myself, is a massive understatement. Some people have lost thousands of pounds and their whole holiday. At least I was fortunate enough to have booked my accommodation independently and then secured another flight.

I truly hope not too many of our SV folks are affected by this mess....good luck with making alternative arrangements.
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XL goes bust

Postby symireps » 12 Sep 2008, 18:49

The latest news is. I am now employed by the CAA. The CAA are also now paying all costs for Kosmar clients (accommodation,transfers and arranging new flights.) No one should have their holiday curtailed. All Kosmar clients will be getting a copy of a letter from the CAA this evening.

Can I pass on my thanks to all Kosmar clients who have been very patient and understanding today. The support they have given me throughout the day has been very much appreciated.

Sue
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Postby maziemoo » 12 Sep 2008, 20:29

Sue, people such as yourself can easily be the forgotten ones at times like this. Ultimately you are left picking up the pieces at the coal face and having to deal with those poor folks who find themselves in such distressing circumstances.

I'm pleased to hear you have had support today, it sounds like something constructive is happening very quickly in terms of your clients.

I wish you all the best.
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Postby sarah » 12 Sep 2008, 21:11

from what iv heard mum and dads holiday to kos is cancelled they are not happy they have been told it could be up to 6 weeks before they get their money back and get to go somewhere else
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Postby Anthony » 12 Sep 2008, 23:25

Sarah, I'm very sorry indeed to hear that.
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Postby Adriana » 13 Sep 2008, 07:48

The demise of Kosmar has serious implications for Symi as it served the needs of many of the island's regular British visitors who would not otherwise be able to afford to visit Symi. This is a crucial part of the island's economy in May, June, September and October and many businesses count on those late September and October visitors to tide them over the hump into the next season. These are people who have been visiting Symi for years, have made many friends amongst the locals and support their favourite haunts on the island.

The loss of that 100 or so people this year may mean some shops, bars and tavernas will be forced to close early as it is unlikely that the gap will be filled at such short notice, particularly as those who have lost their Kosmar holidays are unlikely to be able to organise or afford new holidays this year. :cry:

A sad state of affairs for all concerned. :cry:
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Postby Richard » 13 Sep 2008, 10:50

XL are also the carriers for Olymoic and Libra. Libra say on their website that thay are unable to take any further bookings until they can find other flights but Olympic don't give them a mention and indeed still show XL flights from Manchester and Gatwick South on their terminal page. Has anyone told them yet?
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Postby peterv » 13 Sep 2008, 11:37

I feel for the Symi businesses, I hope that they can manage with the loss of the 100 or so customers. :)

Good luck to Sue, who I met on my last trip, and I hope she is able to keep her (and her customers) spirits up.

In the UK press today (13th) there is a suggestion that there may be other airline casualties this year. :?

Only 15 days before the island has to cope with me again!!! :geek: :geek:
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Postby maziemoo » 13 Sep 2008, 12:41

If I'm honest I think this has finally put a damper on my enthusiasm for coming to Symi next year :cry: as it's the 2nd time this year my flight operator has changed.

My April flight was originally booked with BA via their GB Airways franchise last November which transferred to Easyjet in March. I was impressed with them :) so hope my change to their forthcoming flight proves to be as satisfactory.

However all the uncertaintly coupled with the inherent lateness of published ferry timetables and ferry breakdowns :? , makes for a somewhat hap hazard approach to booking holidays and I'm not sure I feel inclined to endure this again next year.

At the moment Cornwall is looking like an increasingly attractive destination for next year.
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Postby Ozzie Geoff » 13 Sep 2008, 16:17

The demise of XL reached our main evening TV news. It is feared that the UK is heading for a pretty rough economic time.

Mazie, you can always go to Bali next year...never know who you will meet....
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Postby Ange » 13 Sep 2008, 22:39

Feel so sorry for the people who have lost their holiday through Xl collapsing. We fly to Rhodes on Wednesday and its only because we couldn't get a flight with XL that we booked a more expensive than we usually pay flight with First Choice. We've flown with Xl for the last 4 years and used Kosmar too.
Smaller Islands without airports what Kosmar visited will lose out this and next year, and will become out of reach for a lot of people who don't want to travel independantly.
Its a sad time for all of us.
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Postby Richard » 13 Sep 2008, 22:46

And I hope nobody will be trying to fly by Alitalia from tomorrow. They are unable to guarantee any service from then.
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Postby Andy W » 14 Sep 2008, 10:20

Caution might be advisable if travelling with SkyEurope, too. They had two aircraft impounded at Manchester on Friday by the airport management for several hours until some outstanding charges were paid. They are based in Bratislava/Prague/Vienna, and fly to cities all over Europe, including Athens and Thessaloniki, so people might be using them for part of a journey to or from Symi. However, the two aircraft are now flying again.
Yesterday an Irish on-line bookmaker was offering odds on the next airline to go bust - Alitalia were favourites.
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Postby Ozzie Geoff » 14 Sep 2008, 11:30

Couldn't Senor Berlasconi bail them out?
They have been in a dodgy financial state for some years now. They do not come to Oz and have cancelled their Asian hub of HongKong.
Our press, which is the same as yours, is talking of 30 more going bust.
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Postby MrsMcS » 14 Sep 2008, 14:25

Aagh, was tentatively feeling quite happy as we managed to book another holiday for next year yesterday morning with Thomas Cook, but on reading Sue's message wonder where we now stand as she has said the CAA are going to try to sort things out for Kosmar clients.

Sue if you are reading this, do you know where we stand now? If the CAA come up with another holiday for us and we don't want it will it mean that we are to all intents and purposes cancelling the holiday, so won't get our deposit back?

Also would like to say, we feel very sad that Kosmar is no more as if it wasn't for Kosmar we may never have seen Symi. Would also like to wish you all the best, Sue, and hope that everything works out well for you.
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Postby Maggs » 14 Sep 2008, 15:28

We were due to come to Symi with Kosmar for two weeks starting 24 Sept and when we tried to contact Kosmar on Thursday to find out what would happen re our booking we were redirected to the ATOL site which advised Kosmar customers who had not yet started their holiday to make a claim through CAA.

Can anyone confirm that the arrangements that CAA is currently making through Sue to support Kosmar customers in completing their holidays only applies to people who are already on the island?

We assumed that our forthcoming holiday with Kosmar was now down the pan and so we have made alternative holiday arrangements.

We were very sad to hear about all of those people who have lost their jobs as a result of the XL collapse and would like to extend our very best wishes to Sue. This situation must be a nightmare for you and we would like to wish you the very best of luck with dealing with the aftermath and for the future.
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