MADRID, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish acting Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, has confirmed that Spain has been able to recover 74 percent of the flight bookings lost as a result of the bankruptcy of the British travel company Thomas Cook.
Speaking to the press in the Canary Islands after meeting with the regional president Angel Victor Torres, Maroto said that being able to recover lost reserves was "something we have done very well."
Maroto explained the measures the acting government of Pedro Sanchez had taken in order to motivate other airlines to cover the route and that airlines such as Jet2holidays, Ryanair and the TUI group were interested in buying "slots" previously owned by Thomas Cook.
Among the measures is a 38 percent reduction of airport tariffs for the Canary and Balearic Islands, as well as a 12 percent reduction in the tariff for the routes to the two popular tourist destinations.
"We are on the right track, but we have to continue like this," said the acting minister, who added that that Spanish Ministry of Justice was studying whether or not to act in order to defend the interest of those in Spain who have been prejudiced by the collapse of the holiday giant.
Thomas Cook's announced compulsory liquidation on Sept. 23 left 150,000 (mainly British) holidaymakers needed to be repatriated and the cancellation of all future bookings with the firm.
The company employed 22,000 people worldwide and in 2018 sent 7.1 million British tourists to Spain with a further 4.72 million travelling to the country through the company in the first eight months of 2019.
The collapse also saw the cancellation of 400,000 holidays which had been booked in Spain (the majority in the Canary Islands) for the remainder of 2019, provoking fears of immediate layoffs in the local tourist sector.
