LONDON, Sept 12: Britain was plunged into travel turmoil on Friday as the country’s third largest tour operator went bust at the same time as the Channel Tunnel remained closed due to a fire.

Airports saw chaotic scenes after the XL Leisure Group called in the administrators, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded, while travellers booked for the tunnel scrambled to find alternative routes.

At Gatwick airport south of London the two travel crunches combined, with thousands of people seeking to fly to France due to the tunnel closure, at the same time as XL customers were left grounded by the operator’s woes.

“We arrived at our check-in desk this morning and were just handed a letter telling us what had happened,” said Julian Castle, who with his wife Marion had booked flights with XL for a two-week holiday in Florida.—AFP