MyTravel yesterday took a significant step towards securing its future when the tour operator said 66 per cent of its convertible bondholders had agreed to extend the maturity of their investments.

The company needs 75 per cent of bondholders attending an extraordinary meeting next month to agree to extend the maturity of their bonds.

Failure to secure the bondholders' agreement will prevent MyTravel from completing a £1.3 billion sterling (€1.85 billion) debt refinancing that it needs to secure its future. The tour operator, formerly known as Airtours, has endured 12 months of turmoil following a spate of profits warnings and the discovery of accounting irregularities.

While MyTravel's banks had backed its restructuring plan, bondholders were a tougher nut to crack. But after yesterday's announcement, the firm would seem to be close to securing an agreement that would see it complete its refinancing.