Bosses at troubled travel giant Thomas Cook have denied that its debt and financial problems are putting off customers.

The company, which employs 1,000 staff in Bradford city centre and at Birkenshaw, said its customers are “not concerned” with the company’s financial problems and denied that visits to Thomas Cook’s website had slumped by half.

Thomas Cook’s shares plunged last autumn after it announced weaker trading which led to a boardroom shuffle, new financial arrangements and an announcement of job losses.

But the company’s long-haul sector chief executive Phil Aird-Mash said such things are “irrelevant” to customers. The company’s mainstream holiday chief executive, Ian Ailles, said: “Customers are not interested in our debt/equity ratio.”

Although Cook secured an extra £100 million funding from its banks, fears persisted that negative headlines may have scared holiday-makers away from the company leading Cook to launch a publicity drive in which interim chief executive Sam Weihagen said it was safe to book with the group.

Asked at a media briefing about a report of a 50 per cent slump in customer visits to the Thomas Cook website, Mr Aird-Mash said: “I don’t recognise that figure. There was a short-term impact (when we made our autumn announcement).”

Mr Aird-Mash said consultation with the 1,000 staff under threat from the possible closure of 200 high street stores was due to end around mid-March and that, where possible, staff could be redeployed.

l Regional airline Flybe is launching a new service three times a week between Leeds Bradford International Airport and Knock on Ireland’s West Coast from March 25. The service will expand the airline’s summer schedule from LBIA to five routes and 88 flights a week. Flights to Knock will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

And low-cost flyer Ryanair, which has a base at LBIA, is to create more than 1,000 jobs this year as it expands its fleet and bases around Europe. The Dublin-based operator said it would be hiring pilots, cabin crew engineers and sales and marketing staff as it increases its number of aircraft to 305 from 270 in a move which will boost its 8,000-strong workforce by nearly ten per cent.

The fleet expansion comes as it opens new bases in Denmark, Poland, Spain, Cyprus and Manchester. The group said the expansion comes as it expects traffic to grow from 76 million passengers in 2011 to 80 million in 2012.

Ryanair posted profits of £467.5 million in the six months to September 30, an increase of 20 per cent, as a 13 per cent rise in average fares helped it offset a 37 per cent hike in fuel costs.