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CAA vows to enforce new protection laws
Civil Aviation Authority director Richard Jackson has warned that new laws on financial protection will be rigidly enforced and offenders risked being prosecuted.
Under the current bonding system many trade bodies, including the Travel Trust Association, have complained that companies have openly sold packages without an air travel organiser’s licence (ATOL). In the past five years, none of them have been subject to legal action.
But with the introduction of the £1 levy, Jackson said the culture would change and companies would be forced to comply.
“There is no question that we need to have enforcement to make the system fair,” he said.
“I would like to stress that the emphasis will be on education first and explaining to offending companies why they must apply the levy.
“But companies wilfully ignoring that will be prosecuted and will never be able to operate in the industry again because they won’t get a licence after that. So they will be playing for high stakes.”
Jackson said the CAA would closely monitor companies, but also rely on the bulk of operators, who are honest, to keep them informed of developments.
Clarification of the definition of a package will come from the government by the end of the year and Jackson said that would make the law easier to enforce.
“It’s fair to say there’s been virtually nil enforcement in the past five years, but part of the reason for that is because the definition of a package is open to interpretation and we would have legal objections from companies.
“The law is currently not clear and we’d have highly paid barristers dancing on the head of a pin, but that will change.”
Although the £1 levy will replace ATOL bonding for most operators, some companies, including new entrants and those deemed high risk, will need to continue to have bonds. All companies should be informed of their position by letter within the next couple of weeks.
by Jeremy Skidmore
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