Thomas Cook is understood to be close to selling the Freedom Travel Group consortium.
Speculation has mounted following the Civil Aviation Authority’s recent decision to extend its deadline for Atol-accredited bodies, of which Freedom is one, to set up trust accounts by a month to May 1.
That requirement is likely to put Cook’s consortium model under pressure because a trust arrangement would tie up cashflow, according to sources.
Freedom, now in its 14th year, has just under 150 members. It became an Atol-accredited body in May 2012 and is part of The Co-operative Travel Group but operates independently.
It is understood several companies have already shown an interest in buying Freedom. But The Midcounties Co‑operative would be the most obvious “natural fit” for Freedom members, having set up a replica consortium, The Co-op Consortium, two years ago.
Midcounties declined to comment.
An industry source said: “The Freedom contracts mean it has no way of tying members into the group, so whoever they sell it to would have to be someone the members are happy with. Unless there’s someone I don’t know, Midcounties is the only one that fits the bill.”
In relation to the CAA deadline, Cook said last month it was “working with
the CAA to find the best way of addressing this”.
Other Atol-accredited bodies – Hays Travel, Barrhead Travel, Broadway Travel, Midcounties, Advantage Travel Partnership and Global Travel Group – insist they are ready to make the switch to trust accounts.
The original deadline for setting up a trust arrangement was December last year. It was first extended to the start of April and now May 1.
At the Freedom Travel Group conference last year, members were told the consortium was on track after a “challenging” year.
A Thomas Cook spokesman said: “We cannot comment on rumours or speculation.”