Up-to-the-minute travel news | Q&A: what can customers do? | Travellers' tales | XL companies' names and contact details | Countdown to collapse | Passengers furious with airline

Thousands of travellers were left stranded overseas today after XL Leisure, Britain’s third largest tour operator, collapsed and BA’s chief executive predicted that another 30 airlines would go out of business before Christmas.

At least 67,000 passengers across the globe were left waiting to be brought home after XL’s 21 planes were grounded in the early hours of this morning.

XL, which sponsors West Ham United, is the largest travel operator to collapse this year, after Scotland’s Seguro Travel, which failed yesterday, and Zoom, which also left its passengers stranded when its planes were grounded last month.

Like Zoom, XL cited the high price of oil as one of the main reasons for its collapse and Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA, said today that there are likely to be many more casualties of costly fuel and the economic slowdown this year.

Mr Walsh, who yesterday told staff that BA is cutting 1,400 senior management jobs to save £170 million, said today that there were a lot of “weak” airlines struggling to remain in business.

He said: “This is a difficult trading environment and some of the airlines that we have become used to will not survive.”

Phil Wyatt, chief executive of XL Leisure, said that he was "devastated" about the collapse of the company, and admitted that it would be a "huge challenge" to bring back passengers stuck at overseas airports.

BA and Ryanair, the Irish airline, have both offered planes to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to help bring stranded XL passengers back to the UK.

Mr Wyatt said that none of the company's planes were allowed to take-off, blaming "the authorities" for the decision to keep the aircraft grounded.

He said: “The CAA, believe me, will have a huge challenge on their hands to re-protect 67,000 people that are overseas now - 67,000 people who could have flown back on XL Airways, that are going to come back on God-knows-what carriers that the CAA find.”

XL said that staff at its headquarters will be made redundant and there are likely to be cuts at other hubs, including Manchester Airport.

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive