At the start of the summer Michael O’Leary, the outspoken chief executive of Ryanair, predicted that dozens of European airlines would go bust. He said that only Ryanair, British Airways, Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and easyJet were strong enough to weather the tough times ahead while everyone else would be forced into bankruptcy or be bought.

Airlines and holiday operators do indeed face high fuel costs and falling demand because of higher fares and the worsening economic climate. But since Mr O’Leary’s prediction only a handful of airlines have gone bust, including Zoom and Silverjet.

That is because summer is the travel industry’s boom period and carriers and tour operators will have been desperately holding on, hoping for the best. Bankers are also unlikely to call in debts during a company’s most lucrative season – they will wait until the tub is as full as possible before pulling the plug.

The probable bankruptcy today of XL suggests that the pace of failure is about to increase. XL is a household name and its failure will force the travel industry to accept that nobody is too big to go under. City analysts think that further failures are inevitable and when they happen, they will happen quickly.

Many of the Zoom passengers who lost out when the carrier went bankrupt last month complained that the airline continued to offer flights and take money despite knowing that its future was precarious. This is inevitable. Any hint of financial difficulty results in customers deserting the company in droves, hastening its end.

The only solution is for holidaymakers to heed Mr O’Leary’s prediction and spend their money wisely.

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