Families risk losing holidays they have already booked as travel chiefs gave warning that 30 airlines were on the brink of collapse.

The holiday industry was plunged into chaos when XL, Britain’s third-largest travel firm, went into administration yesterday, leaving more than 85,000 people stranded in foreign resorts and cities.

As the Civil Aviation Authority struggled to get them home, it emerged that some airlines were facing demands for immediate payment for fuel and airport services amid fears they could run out of cash. The Times can disclose that Barclays bank called in its loans to XL on August 14. Administrators were finally appointed early yesterday. Documents seen by The Times show that Barclays, which is owed about £10 million by XL, demanded more than £2 million in immediate payment amid mounting concerns about its solvency.

The disclosure will anger those who recently booked flights and holidays unaware that the airline’s bankers already had doubts about its survival.

The CAA was trying to make arrangements to repatriate more than 85,000 XL customers who have been left marooned overseas. Hundreds more arrived at Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow airports early yesterday expecting to go on holiday only to be told that they had been cancelled.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways, who yesterday told staff that the company was cutting 1,400 senior management jobs to save £170 million, said that there were a lot of “weak” airlines struggling to remain in business. “We have seen 30 [airlines] worldwide go,” he said. “I would be very surprised if it is not something similar to that in the next three or four months.”

Michael Cawley, Ryanair’s chief operating officer, said: “There are going to be many others that get into difficulty and don’t survive.”

Choking back tears, Phil Wyatt, the chief executive and founder of XL, blamed the airline’s collapse first on soaring oil prices — which have swelled its operating costs by $82 million this year — and then a rising dollar, which had wiped out the benefits of a fall of more than 30 per cent in the oil price since July 11.

He said that it was the grounding by BAA on Thursday of one of its aircraft amid concerns about payment that forced the company to admit defeat and call off rescue talks.

The Times has learnt that as many as 80 of the 120 airlines operating out of Britain have fallen behind in payments of departure tax receipts to the Government.

David Stark, an aviation expert at the accountants Deloitte, said that the credit crunch had finally hit home in the industry. “Massive fuel costs earlier in the year and declining demand for international holidays have many airlines up against the wall,” he said. “The next few months will be tough as companies seek to meet their financial constraints with little new business coming their way until next year’s bookings.”

Times recommends

• Oasis of the Seas: the Times review
• The 20 best new year party places to stay
• Green Spaces 2009: are you the winning writer?