A COUPLE who were due to be married abroad next month are having to quickly source alternative flights after a travel giant collapsed.

Kizzy Davey and her partner Damian Gilbert were due to fly out to Turkey on October 7 and get married four days later.

However, after the collapse of holiday firm Thomas Cook, they only have a couple of weeks to find alternative flights.

Kizzy, who has been with Damian for nine years, said: “We were going to get married on the blue lagoon out there.

“There was 23 of us, some have booked with other companies, but there was 11 of us on my flight and then my partner’s mum, dad and niece had a separate flight booked with Thomas Cook.

“We were due to meet with the beach weddings team on the Wednesday and then marry on the Friday.”

The couple hopes to find alternative flights.

Kizzy, from Colchester, said: “We feel absolutely devastated, but ultimately feel so bad for all the jobs people have lost. It’s absolutely heartbreaking.” Thomas Cook ceased trading in the early hours of yesterday morning after failing to secure a last-ditch rescue deal.

It means families on holiday abroad have faced delays and cancellations for their flights home.

The country’s largest peacetime repatriation operation has been launched with about 150,000 tourists being brought back to the UK by the Civil Aviation Authority in a flight programme costing £100 million.

Craig Preece, from Colchester, is with three of his family members in Tenerife.

He said: “We are waiting for news of our return flight. We are due to fly back on Thursday evening and we are just going to enjoy the rest of our holiday and not let it spoil it. We do feel for the Thomas Cook staff, though.”

Richard Moriarty, the chief executive of the CAA, said the repatriation of Thomas Cook holidaymakers will involve flights from 53 airports in 18 countries.

About 40 aircraft from as far away as Malaysia have been chartered to operate about 1,000 flights over the next two weeks.

The company went into administration when it was unable to secure the extra £200 million needed to keep the business afloat after a day of make-or-break talks with the major shareholder and creditors on Sunday.

Most of the flights back will be from European airports, but customers will also be brought home from long-haul destinations in the US, the Caribbean and Cuba.