The programme is expected to last until Sunday 6 October and will rescue almost twice the number brought home after Monarch Airlines failed in 2017.
The debt-ridden company entered compulsory liquidation in the early hours of the morning after it failed to secure an extra £200m needed to keep it afloat following talks with creditors and the government.
Around one million customers who had travel booked in the coming months have been told not to go to the airport, as all bookings, including flights and holidays, have been cancelled.
It had a total of 600,000 global customers in-resort at the time of its collapse.
Thomas Cook planes that were operating overnight have been grounded as they land at their destinations while 21,000 staff, including 9,000 people in the UK, are set to lose their jobs.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has mobilised at least 40 aircraft from airlines including British Airways and easyJet to bring 150,000 Thomas Cook customers home to the UK.
The CAA's policy director Tim Johnson told Sky News: "We expect to run around 1000 flights from the 55 destinations that Thomas Cook served.
https://news.sky.com/story/thomas-cook-ceases-trading-flights-bringing-stranded-customers-home-11817529
