The collapse of Thomas Cook last September is thought to have cost the 海角视频 taxpayer at least £156 million, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).
On top of that, the total bill for those covered by the ATOL protection scheme – funded by industry members – could be closer to £500 million.
A new report from the NAO said it cost ATOL so much that the government could have to step in to help it should another big holiday firm go bust.
The NAO said the cost of 746 repatriation flights alone will eventually cost the Department for Transport (DfT) around £83 million, and there are other costs that are not yet even known.
The historic travel company – whose roots dated back to Leicestershire in 1841 – collapsed on September 23 when all of its flight and holiday bookings were cancelled.
The business had debts of £1.7 billion and needed around £1.1 billion to keep going.
Some 9,000 海角视频 staff lost their jobs.
Following the failure the DfT called on the Civil Aviation Authority to repatriate around 150,000 customers stranded in 18 different countries.
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The government body is now reimbursing the CAA for the cost of passengers who were not covered by ATOL.
At the time that figure was estimated to be 40 per cent of passengers, but last month it was revised to 55 per cent, increasing the costs to government by £22 million.
In all the NAO said at least 14 organisations, including at least nine government departments, responded to support Thomas Cook passengers and staff.
Between September 23 and October 7, 746 repatriation flights from 54 airports were completed, bringing around 94 per cent of passengers back to the 海角视频 on their original scheduled date.
Thomas Cook staff were also brought home in any spare seats.
In a statement the NAO said the overall expense included the cost of keeping some parts of Thomas Cook running to assist with the repatriation.
It added: “The final cost to government of the repatriation may not be known for some time as, for example, the CAA will continue to receive for some months invoices for leasing planes, ground handling charges, and other services, with a proportion of these costs falling to government.
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“In addition to the costs associated with repatriating passengers, other parts of government are expected to face costs of at least £73 million as a consequence of the insolvency of Thomas Cook.
“These costs include at least £58 million of redundancy and related payments to Thomas Cook’s former employees and at least £15 million for the costs of liquidating Thomas Cook, although the total costs of liquidation will not be known until the Official Receiver finishes his work.”
The NAO report said the CAA estimated the total exposure of the Thomas Cook repatriation and refunds to the fund that covers ATOL-protected passengers – the ATTF – will be £481 million.
ATOL holders pay it £2.50 per passenger for every package holiday they sell.
The NAO said: “The scale of the collapse of Thomas Cook represents a substantially larger draw on the ATTF’s resources than any previous case.
“The CAA told us that it is likely that after all costs arising from the collapse of Thomas Cook have been met, there will be relatively limited resources left in the ATTF.
“Should another ATOL-licensed company collapse and costs cannot be met from the fund, the government has agreed to stand behind the ATTF.
“In December 2019 the government announced plans for new legislation to address airline insolvency, which amongst other things, aims to introduce a special administration regime for airlines to support passengers’ needs post-insolvency and to keep their aircraft fleet flying long enough for passengers to be repatriated.
“The legislation also aims to improve protection for consumers and protect the interests of the taxpayer.”
In November the government also announced a scheme to support Thomas Cook personal injury claimants facing the most serious hardship as a result of injuries or illness while on their holiday – something previously managed by the travel firm, but something it was not insured for.