Rival airlines today offered to fly home passengers stranded by the collapse of budget airline EUjet.
Low-fare carriers Monarch Scheduled and easyJet were helping out the hundreds of holidaymakers who were due to fly back with the Kent-based airline.
Monarch Scheduled offered a special £25 plus taxes deal for EUjet passengers due to come back from Spain or Portugal in the next seven days.
The flights would return to Luton, Gatwick or Manchester, Monarch Scheduled said. EasyJet said it was charging an all-in fee of £25 for stranded EUjet passengers.
An easyJet spokesman added: "This is a goodwill gesture and we will not be making any money out of this. We understand there are between 5,000 and 10,000 passengers who need to get home and we are happy to help out."
The crisis began for EUjet when shares in its parent company PlaneStation were suspended on Monday after bankers said they were unable to support additional finance for EUjet following lower-than-expected passenger numbers.
Yesterday, PlaneStation filed for voluntary administration and EUjet flights, which operate out of Kent International Airport in Manston, were suspended.
EUjet runs four Fokker 100 aircraft and flies to 18 destinations from Manston, including Edinburgh, Newcastle, Manchester and Malaga in southern Spain.
The airline's collapse left passengers stranded at Manston and also stuck at airports in Europe. Also, the jobs of around 500 workers are under threat.
The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) also said clients with future bookings - of which there could be in excess of 50,000 - were unlikely to receive any form of refund unless they had used a credit card and paid more than £100.
Although most air package holidays are covered by the Civil Aviation Authority-run Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (Atol) scheme, some flights are not covered.
Abta president Martin Wellings said: "We have been lobbying for many years for consumer protection to be extended to cover the failure of scheduled airlines and this failure regrettably underlines the need for government to extend this protection urgently. "This failure is very frustrating and disappointing for travellers hoping to enjoy a well-earned and stress-free holiday."
An Abta spokeswoman said consumers were only guaranteed full protection if they book a flight or a holiday through an Atol-bonded supplier and only just over half of British travellers flying internationally are now covered by the Atol scheme.
Abta, alongside other travel organisations, said it had been lobbying the Government to modernise consumer protection by supporting the Civil Aviation's proposal of introducing a £1 levy on all flights in and out of the UK.