Travel consultants were advised by the authority at the time of Cook’s collapse on 23 September to hold onto pipeline cash which had not yet been passed on.

A claims service was launched on 7 October and the CAA’s Atol team began refunding Cook customers “in order to avoid any delays” to the process, the CAA said.

With the claims process under way, pipeline monies must now be returned to the Air Travel Trust (ATT) by 31 January 2020.

Agents will be able to invoice the ATT for a handling fee of £50 (+VAT) for each booking to help cover administrative costs.

Although travel consultants awaiting commission from Cook will not be able to deduct this from the pipeline monies owed to the ATT.

The CAA said any claim must be submitted to the Official Receiver as a claim in liquidation.

Michael Budge, the CAA’s head of Atol licensing, said the authority was “grateful for the cooperation of travel agents over the past weeks”.

“The impact of Thomas Cook’s liquidation is far-reaching, and we want to ensure that consumers’ refunds are processed efficiently. We will now recover pipeline monies from travel agents and, while we are not able to honour commissions agreed with Thomas Cook, we will be able to pay a handling fee for the return of pipeline monies to the ATT,” he added.