NORTH-EAST holidaymakers who are due to travel home in the coming days are still waiting for information about their return flights more than a week on from the collapse of Thomas Cook.

Last week, the UK Civil Aviation Authority launched the "largest peacetime repatriation" to bring more than 150,000 people back to the UK following the demise of the travel operator.

Although around 115,000 of these have already been flown back, about a quarter of Thomas Cook passengers are still to return home.

One family, from Sedgefield, are due to return from a trip to Florida later this week and still do not know when they will be returning home.

Jessica Ivison, who is on holiday with her partner, said: "It has been so difficult to get any information, we thought when we first heard about what had happened, that because it was ages before we were coming home, it would be sorted, but we are still none the wiser.

"Different people tell you to get in touch with different organisations, and because we are so far away from the UK, it's hard to know exactly what is going on.

"All we know is our flight for Friday has been cancelled and we still don't know how we are getting home."

The Civil Aviation Authority is asking customers still abroad to provide them with contact details so they can be contacted directly over any flight updates.

Operation Matterhorn continues until Sunday, with around 900 flights planned in total, and about 94 per cent of people have flown back on the original days of their cancelled Thomas Cook flight, according to CAA.

Richard Moriarty, chief executive at the UK CAA, said: “As we start the second week of our flying programme, we remain firmly focussed on the enormity of the challenge we still have to deliver. We have returned over three-quarters of Thomas Cook passengers back to the UK and are now also working on the challenge of refunding the 360,000 ATOL protected future bookings as soon as possible. The scale and complexity of our repatriation and refund operations will inevitably cause some inconvenience and disruption and I would like to thank Thomas Cook customers for bearing with us.

“For those customers that are still abroad, we have set up an online form to provide us with contact information. Please fill out this form."