Thousands of holidaymakers left stranded by the collapse of Britain's third largest tour operator have returned to the UK.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it had brought back 11,900 people on 52 flights as part of its attempt to repatriate some 85,000 customers hit by XL Leisure Group's demise.
The vast majority of those still overseas will fly back on the date they originally intended to, the aviation regulator added.
But the procedures in place to deal with the chaos caused by failed airlines and tour operators was nonetheless criticised by Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson.
Sir Richard called for an urgent review of the rules with a view to allowing the air fleet of stricken firms to continue to fly under the watch of the regulator.
He said: "It does not make sense for aircraft to be lying idle at UK airports when they should be used to bring back stranded passengers of that airline.
"There is enormous pressure at the moment within the aviation industry to help with the rescue mission, which we are happy to do, but it should not be like this in the future."
The airlift currently under way was described as the "the most challenging ever undertaken" by XL's chief executive Peter Wyatt and is expected to cost some £20 million.
Overseas package tour passengers are covered under the Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (Atol) scheme, but thousands of outbound XL customers will have to make alternative plans on their own.
XL went into administration after failing to secure a rescue package. The high-profile collapse prompted a prediction by British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh that another 30 airlines would go out of business within the next four months
