It was only a couple of weeks ago when I was writing about Gills Cruises and Dream Holidays collapsing. Now we have seen the largest failure of the year so far with the Brighton Based Holidays 4U going into administration.

The news yesterday was distracted for a shortwhile away fro the phone hacking scandal to show roving reporters at airports around the country getting reaction from people who were just hearing the news that their holiday wouldn't be going ahead.

It is estimated that around 13,000 customers are currently abroad, but the CAA and ABTA have both reassured people that they will get them home safely. I'm sure that won't stop people worrying about what will happen to them, how they will get to the airport and who will fly them home. Part of the Holidays 4U empire was small airline Aegean Flights, who also stopped trading immediately.

It's not clear yet if people who are abroad will have to pay for heir own accommodation (despite having already paid Holidays 4U) and then reclaim the money from the CAA under the ATOL scheme. There have been further assurances that those who have future bookings, estimated to be around 50,000 will get their money back. The problem is, it's not likely to be in time for them to book another holiday this year! If you want to know your rights, check out my previous blog post here.

Reports in the media suggest that all flights to Turkey, which was the focus for Holidays 4U are sold out, or the rates have gone through the roof because of the demand. This may be a temporary peak for some of the other travel companies in the market, who are also struggling in the current financial climate.

In other news yesterday, the it was announced that Manny Fontenla-Novoa, the Chief Executive of travel giant Thomas Cook has resigned. It seems that he was probably pushed out by continued profits warnings at the company. The shares have dropped significantly in recent months (see my recent article) and it was probably only a matter of time.

All of these things really do highlight how important the Package Travel Regulations are and how important it is to book through a licensed tour operator and to book a packaged holiday. These things will also help if we have to get involved because of a different kind of holiday problem!