With the collapse of the world's oldest travel firm Thomas Cook, there are a reported 600,000 holidaymakers stuck abroad. 

Many have been left confused and have complained by the lack of information communicated to them. 

"Obviously the customer services you couldn't get a hold of. The travel company we were travelling with, you can't get a hold of them," said Steve Tarrant, who had planned to fly to Cancun, Mexico, from Manchester Airport.

"So we just took it upon ourselves to book another flight," he said, at an extra cost of £1,200.

Michael Swelham told CGTN he turned up at the airport in Menorca at 7am expecting to take a flight home at 10am. 

"We have remained here for coming up to almost five hours," he said. As passengers in the lounge built up, he was told his flight would leave at 2pm, and then later told it would be 4:30pm. 

He says that apparently flights to Birmingham and Manchester will be combined but that he doesn't know where they will be landing. 

Melissa Hunter is due to fly to Paris in November with her partner for their one-year anniversary, but has been left "really confused" since the travel firm's closure. 

She told CGTN her trip was booked through Thomas Cook but that part of it is through Expedia, with FlyBe and Air France flights making up her trip. All of her bank transactions, emails and bookings are in Thomas Cook's name, she said. 

"I don't know if my booking will just be moved over or cancelled. I'm due to go 21st November - 24th to Paris but (I have)no idea at all.

"There's people much worse off than me right now so I'm not too fussed as of yet but it would be nice to know where I stand."

She adds that her ATOL-certificate "I'm only covered if Expedia stop trading" but that it doesn't mention Thomas Cook. She is currently waiting to hear back from the travel companies involved. 

Natasha Brown, speaking to the Guardian, was due to fly from Majorca to Newcastle this morning but is still waiting in the airport lounge. 

"They've not got any information on the Newcastle flight," she said.

She said she had heard nothing from Thomas Cook and was concerned the hotel would foot her and her friends the bill. 

"We didn't check out until the transfer came this morning because we didn't (want) what happened in Tunisia to happen to us.”

She added: "The two reps on the coach thanked us all for the holidays we'd taken with Thomas Cook. And then they started to cry.”

Kim Egerton-Stanbridge was due to fly from Gatwick airport this morning with her partner, James. She told CGTN they hadn't had any information from Thomas Cook or other travel companies about their holiday.

"There's been no emails, no phone calls from them at all," she said. "Up to now they've been brilliant, but now we haven't heard anything from them. So we are still waiting." 

Partner James said they were told about the company's collapse from a friend. 

Martin Nowell was supposed to fly to Egypt on Monday with his partner, Pixie Flaguel and said they have been left "disappointed". 

"We came here this morning to hope to maybe see if our flight is going and it isn't," he said. "We haven't got the means to book another flight so unfortunately today we are going home." 

He too said they weren't told anything from Thomas Cook but added that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had been "good" and provided support for them. 

Flaguel said she was "devastated" that they can't go on their holiday. 

"All of my money went into this holiday,  it was everything to me," she said. 

Nowell added that his thoughts are with the staff who have lost their jobs.

Other customers have also expressed their gratitude and sympathy to the travel firm's employees. 

Gary Thickbroom, a customer on Thomas Cook's last ever flight from Orlando to Manchester told the BBC: "We sort of gathered that as we took off and then on the flight there were all different rumours.

"It came to light when the captain thanked us all for past… number of years. All the cabin crew – even though they knew what was happening – were very profession still really friendly.

"The emotional part was leaving the plane."

Thickbroom's wife, Diane, added that the cabin crew were "in tears" when they got off the plane. 

The closure also means 21,263 people will be without a job. 

Employees contacted by CGTN, who wish to remain anonymous, have said they found out about the news on Twitter and weren't formally notified until a conference call at 10:00 UK time

One employee, Josh, who goes by the Twitter handle @joshcrabbers7, works as a sales consultant in the Peterborough head office. He said it's an "awful situation" to be in. 

"We found out when everyone else did, (we've) only been told we are left without a job. I only knew the severity of the situation over the weekend," he said. 

"It's horrible but that's how it's been done."

He said that he and his colleagues "are as shocked as each other" by how fast the business folded over the past couple of days.  

"I don't think anyone saw this coming on Thursday evening of last week." 

Many businesses and industries are said to be potentially affected by the collapse of the holiday company that was set up in 1841. 

According to Turkey's Hoteliers Federation (TUROFED), the country could miss out on up-to 700,000 tourists a year. 

TUROFED chairman Osman Ayik said the figure was based on the number of tourists who booked through Thomas Cook. 

Tourism is a major part of Turkey's economy, with about 40 million tourists visiting in 2018, bringing in revenue of $29.5 billion, according to official data. 

Holiday provider On The Beach said it was "evaluating the potential effects" of the travel giant's closure. 

"The board anticipates there will be a one-off exceptional cost associated with helping customers to organise alternative travel arrangements, and lost margin on cancelled bookings."

The business added it is assisting customers currently in resort and whose travel plans will be affected by Cook's collapse.

Jet2, a British-based airline company, says prices may rise due to an increase in demand from Thomas Cook's closure. 

"As always, our flights and holiday prices work on a live system which means prices can (and do) fluctuate based on various factors, including demand, availability etc.," the flight firm said on Twitter. 

Thomas Cook's German airline subsidiary, Condor, has requested financial aid from Berlin to keep it in the air after its parent collapsed this morning.  

It said it had been "profitable for many years," adding that "to prevent liquidity bottlenecks at Condor, it has applied for a state-guaranteed bridging loan".

Condor told news agency DPA that around 140,000 German tourists are currently on holiday with the travel giant and its subsidiaries.

Other businesses appear to be feeling the aftershock of Thomas Cook's collapse, with Premier League football club Liverpool releasing a statement regarding the travel firm. 

The club said: "Thomas Cook sells 360 hospitality packages for each of our home games at Anfield. We are currently assessing the impact of Thomas Cook ceasing trading and the impact for those supporters who have purchased packages from Thomas Cook." 

Birmingham Airport announced this morning that all Thomas Cook flights have been cancelled and said they are working to support customers and staff affected. 

"We're working closely with the CAA and the DfT to also support the effort to repatriate customers back to the UK over the coming weeks," it said in a statement.