Bulgarian package specialist Balkan Holidays Ltd has suspended dealings in Britain from yesterday, April 24, it said.
Customers abroad with Balkan Holidays will not be affected and those who have paid deposits for future bookings will receive their money back.
Balkan Holidays, founded almost 60 years ago, offered a summer programme with a flight to Burgas for a beach holiday.
The company also chartered its own flights to Sofia for skiing and snowboarding holidays.
In addition, the company offered holidays to Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Malta and Northern Cyprus.
Balkan Holidays offered departures from 17 UK airports – more than any other UK tour operator and at its peak the company carried over 130,000 passengers in a single year.
Alexander Stoyanov, Managing Director of Balkan Holidays Ltd UK, said: “It is really sad that the company is ceasing to operate in the UK after so many years. The company is solvent, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to be competitive and profitable in the UK. No one will lose money and all suppliers will be paid and I sincerely thank them for their support over the years. I am truly sorry to let down our loyal customers and the fantastic travel agents who have booked holidays with us for this summer and beyond and have given us so much over the years; all customers will be fully refunded. Based in London we have a fantastic, dedicated team of travel professionals, some of whom I have worked with personally since joining the company 26 years ago and sadly redundancies are inevitable. We had hoped to celebrate 60 years in business next year but it wasn’t to be.”
