London: Travel firm Thomas Cook expressed regret on Wednesday for the deaths of two British children on one of its holidays in 2006, seeking to end damaging headlines over its handling of the case.
Social media users have this week called for a boycott of the company following reports that the parents of the children had not received an apology and that the company had received more in compensation for the children’s deaths than their parents.
“First of all I want to say that I feel deeply sorry about the tragic death of these two children,” Thomas Cook Chief Executive Peter Fankhauser said in an interview on Wednesday.
“In the past it is obvious that there have been a lot of mistakes in regards to managing the relationship with this family,” he added.
But the attempted boycott was not yet biting, he added.
“So far we don’t see any impact on our bookings,” added Fankhauser, who replaced predecessor Harriet Green in November in a move which surprised investors.
The media storm over the children’s deaths, back in focus after an inquest in Britain last week returned a verdict of unlawful killing from carbon monoxide poisoning, threatened to overshadow Thomas Cook’s otherwise positive trading update.
