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ATOL failures double
A total 18 ATOL companies failed last year, doubling last year?s figure.
According to ATOL the largest failure was Specialist Tours Limited, which cost ATOL ?457,000.
In the year to March 31 2004 the 18 failures required ATOL to rescue nearly 2,000 holidaymakers who were stranded abroad and refund nearly 12,000 people that had already paid for holidays. It cost a total ?3.8 million.
Most of the companies failing were covered by their bond, but three required intervention from the Air Travel Trust, which amounted to ?285,000. This left the Trust in a year-end deficit of ?9.7 million.
The Trust has been in deficit since 1996 following a number of ATOL failures. It has been granted by the Government a guarantee up to ?21 million, but the Trustees are lobbying the Government in a bid to raise funds and put it back into the black.
The Trustees are concerned that the increased bookings with no-frills airlines and self-packaged holidays purchased online is leaving more holidaymakers unprotected.
John Cox is chairman of the Air Travel Insolvency Protection Committee (ATIPAC). He said: “As the pace of change in the travel industry accelerates, so the risk of failure of a major airline or tour operator increases. But the Government is still not prepared to articulate a clear policy on financial protection for holidaymakers. In ATIPAC?s view this indifference and inertia is a disgrace”.
Report by Ginny McGrath
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