Yesterday’s announcement that Kiss Flights would cease trading could cause disruption for as many as 70,000 holidaymakers. The company currently has some 13,000 customers on holiday overseas and around 60,000 are waiting to travel. The demise of Kiss follows last month’s collapse of travel firm Goldtrail and last week’s folding of Sun4U.

The Civil Aviation Authority said all Kiss customers who were already enjoying their holidays would be flown home when they were over. The CAA added that those booked to travel before 6pm today would also be unaffected. The firm mainly sold cheap flights to destinations including Turkey, Egypt, Greece and the Canary Islands.

The CAA went on to assure customers that most of them would be able to claim a refund for their holiday. A spokesman said arrangements will be put into place to ensure that all Atol protected customers would be able to retrieve the full cost of their booking.

Bob Atkinson, a travel analyst with travelsupermarket.com, said this third travel company failure could, unfortunately, again affect those who have already been disrupted by the demise of Goldtrail and Sun4U. He added that the latest closure may not be the last as the autumn approaches.

Simon Calder, a travel journalist, pointed out that it was very unusual for large travel companies to go bust during peak summer months, as cash flow should be at its peak. He added that most agents tended to get into trouble when the bills started coming in after the middle of September.