Thomas Cook said on Monday it is in "advanced discussions" with its banking group.

The beleagured operator confirmed it was close to striking the agreement to extend financing arrangements with its banking group, just months after the latest refinancing deal.
A statement on Monday said the group is also exploring a possible sale and leasback of certain aircraft, on top of the revised financing arrangements.
The deal would ease pressure on the company after its near collapse last November, when shares tumbled by as much as 70pc after the tour operator said it needed more cash from its banks.
Europe's second-biggest travel firm after rival TUI Travel suffered a disastrous year in 2011, leading to the resignation of its chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa in August.

A FATHER of two who suffered horrific injuries in a bottle attack at a celebrity-packed party held by smartphone firm BlackBerry lost his fight for life yesterday.

Phillip Sherriff, 37, was fatally wounded at Pulse nightclub in central London following a performance by Brit award-winning singer Jessie J.

Company director Ashley Charles, 25, was remanded in custody, charged over the attack which police are now investigating as murder.



Mr Sherriff, a married telecommunications professional from Preston, Lancashire, was rushed to the Royal London Hospital after suffering a neck injury at the club in Southwark on Tuesday night.
Medics battling to save his life were later forced to operate on his skull to remove pressure from an injury to his brain.

Jessie J left BlackBerry party
, But the wounded man - who remained in a critical condition - died yesterday morning.
His photographer wife Jane — who had kept a hospital vigil — faced having to break the news of his death to their children as she headed back home to Preston, Lancs.

A pal said: “She is devastated.”

Jessie - who had finished her set just about 20 minutes before the incident - put a message on Twitter speaking of her shock and offering her sympathy.

She said: “I am lost for words. All I can say is my thoughts, love and respects are with the family and children of the man who attended the blackberry gig last week who sadly lost his life this morning So sad...”

“A post-mortem examination will be arranged in due course,” a Scotland Yard spokesman said.
Mr Sherriff had been invited to the BlackBerry function along with celebrities including Celebrity Big Brother's Georgia Salpa, stars of The Only Way Is Essex, BlackBerry competition winners and journalists

Charles, of Nevanthon Road, Leicester, spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth when he appeared in the dock at Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court accused of attempted murder.

The defendant, dressed in a dark jumper and jeans, was ordered to attend Inner London Crown Court on April 20.
An application for bail was refused.

Easter airport 'gridlock' warning

 

Airlines have warned the Home Secretary that Britain "risks gridlock" at airports including Heathrow and Gatwick over the Easter break due to staff shortages. More than 370,000 passengers will leave Heathrow airport between Good Friday and Easter Monday, and 200,000 will pass through Gatwick. A spokesman for Heathrow owner BAA told the Daily Telegraph: "Immigration waiting times during peak periods at Heathrow are currently unacceptable and we have called on the UK Border Force to address the problem as a matter of urgency. "There isn't a trade-off between strong border security and a good passenger experience. UK Border Force should be delivering both." Meanwhile, Britons attempting to travel by rail and road face delays because of engineering works taking place on motorways and train lines. Stretches of the M1 and M25 will be affected, and the seven million passengers travelling by train over the weekend will see disruption to travel to and from Euston, King's Cross, Liverpool Street, and Waterloo stations in London. British Airways and Virgin Airlines are among 11 firms that have written to Theresa May in anticipation of "unacceptable" delays to hundreds of thousands of passengers travelling over the long weekend. The UK Border Agency is under fire for a lack of staff able to carry out full security checks, which the airlines say must result in a recruitment drive or the relaxing of some of the more stringent measures currently in place. A spokeswoman for Virgin Airlines said: "While the decision on what level of check should be made at the border is, of course, a matter for Government, we are concerned that there is currently a mismatch between policy and resource. "After years of reducing frontline staff, returning to a 100% check system will undoubtedly mean lengthy queues at UK airports over critical holiday periods such as Easter and the Diamond Jubilee."