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Thomas Cook Boss 'Regrets' Delaying Apology

The boss of Thomas Cook says he "regrets" that it took the travel company nine years to apologise to the family of two children who died in Corfu.

Speaking to Sky's Ian King, Thomas Cook CEO Peter Fankhauser said: "That is something which I regret deeply.

"We should have done that honestly during the last nine years, and I should have done that when I took over in November 2014.

"That was my biggest mistake - that I was not trying to get in contact with the family."

Despite the admission, he said he would not be resigning.

Mr Fankhauser also addressed reports a hotel manager convicted of negligent manslaughter in connection with the children's deaths had returned to work at a hotel used by Thomas Cook.

George Chrysikopoulos was general manager of the complex where Christi and Bobby Shepherd were poisoned when toxic carbon monoxide leaked into their room.

On Wednesday it emerged that in April he subsequently took up the same post at a hotel in Crete that is also regularly used by Thomas Cook.

The company says Mr Chrysikopoulos has since been dismissed from the post, adding that it was not aware of the issue until alerted by media reports.

Mr Fankhauser said: "When I got that news yesterday evening I almost got sick.

"This is absolutely not acceptable and I took immediate action and we were getting into contact with the management of the group.

"We were asking with immediate effect that this hotel director is going to be fired and that has been done."

Thomas Cook said that hotel electrician Christos Louvros found guilty of unlawful killing over the deaths of Christi and Bobby had also returned for a period of time to work at the hotel where the children died - but is no longer employed there.

Mr Fankhauser's comments came after a meeting in London with the parents of Bobby and Christi Shepherd, who died in October 2006 during a family holiday on Corfu.

Mr Fankhauser described the meeting as "intense", adding that he appreciated the chance to apologise to Sharon Wood and Neil Shepherd in person.

"I did the right thing, and I'm grateful the family gave me the chance to meet them personally today," he told Sky News.

"The meeting was very intense and I really just wanted to listen to them, and what their story is.

"I wanted to hear it from them, and for me it was heartbreaking. I apologised for what I did not (do) right in the last days, and I apologised for the mistakes Thomas Cook made in the last nine years.

"I finally came with the family to an agreement that they can move on with their lives."

After the meeting it emerged that Thomas Cook is to make a "financial gesture of goodwill" to Mrs Wood and Mr Shepherd.

The amount of the payout has not been disclosed.

Mrs Wood and Mr Shepherd, along with their lawyer, held a news conference following their meeting with Mr Fankhauser.

"Nothing can give us back our children or the carefree lives we once led," Mrs Wood said.

"No one can erase the lifelong pain for Christi and Bobby's family and friends. We cannot change the past and we accept it may be time to look to the future.

"I hope that Thomas Cook, and everyone who has defended its wrongdoing, now realises the impact of their actions on families like ours and that they will learn the lessons they need to learn from this tragedy.

"We look forward to some normality to our life in the sure and certain knowledge that we have done everything we can to get justice for Christi and Bobby's deaths."