A Thomas Cook passenger due to fly home on Tuesday has said she is “stuck” in Tunisia, unable to secure a new flight.
Julie Paige told the BBC that she had booked a flight with the collapsed travel firm which was not covered by the industry insurance fund Atol.
“I had a flight booked with Thomas Cook to return back to the UK on 8 October which no longer exists,” she said.
Ms Paige said she did not have enough money to book a return flight to the UK and did not know what to do.
The Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (Atol) protection covers customers who booked a package deal with the firm, not flight-only deals.
Ms Paige’s flight on Tuesday falls just outside the two-week repatriation scheme organised by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which organised replacement flights back for those affected by Thomas Cook’s failure.
Ms Paige, a nurse, said she did not have enough money to book a replacement flight and only had a basic bank account.
“It’s nearly 900 Tunisian dinar. I haven’t got £300 for another flight.
“I’m stuck. I just didn’t expect this to happen. I live month to month as a single parent and I have no spare money. I don’t know what to do. When you haven’t got any money, you haven’t got any options.”
