The world’s oldest travel agency is back, now as an OTA (on-line travel agency) web outlet, but in many ways following the concept of the founder who in 1841 chartered a train from Leicester to Loughborough innovating the idea of group travel.

The Thomas Cook brand, including the 'sunny heart logo', and website were bought from the liquidators by Chinese conglomerate Fosun last year for £11m (see BTN 14 September).

The new OTA will mostly sell easyJet flights combined with hotels sourced through three bed brands: Hotelbeds, Webbeds and Yalago.  For the launch, it is working with flight consolidator Paxport.

A spokesperson said: "The site allows customers to design their own holiday, adding flights and hotels with the option of transfers – other add-ons include car hire, airport parking, currency and travel insurance.

"Customers can quickly search for their preferred destination and refine results against a range of criteria that are important to them."

Initially Thomas Cook will only sell holidays to countries on the UK Government's travel corridor list, and it promises not to charge customers a fee if the rules change. It has become a member of ABTA and is ATOL protected.

www.thomascook.com