FILE PHOTO: A Thomas Cook Scandinavia Airbus A330 plane takes off from Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, Spain, September 25, 2019.REUTERS/Borja Suarez

(Reuters) - Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said over 70 flights are scheduled for Thursday to bring back 16,000 people to the country following the collapse of Thomas Cook.

The authority also said over 150 Thomas Cook crew and 30% of the total number of passengers, in the first three days of the operation, had already been flown back.

CAA said its flying programme would continue until Oct 6, with more than 1,000 flights planned in total. The aviation regulator launched the largest peacetime repatriation on Monday.