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‘Extend protection to all airline tickets’
The trade has been urged to back plans to encourage consumers to pay for financial protection against airline failure.
The call to back Civil Aviation Authority proposals through a levy of £1-£2 per flight came from Association of ATOL Companies legal advisor Alan Bowen.
He believes a single system of government-backed traveller protection would remove the risks and close the many loopholes in the present ATOL scheme which covers far fewer operators due to the surge in internet booking and no-frills airlines.
It could also act as a step towards package holiday protection and the abolition of bonding for tour operators.
Bowen said: “Richard Jackson, head of consumer protection at the CAA, has spoken openly about the problems of bonding – a system which is expensive, unfair and becoming increasingly unworkable.
“If a levy on airline tickets can be seen to work this could act as a stepping stone to looking at the protection for package holidays and could offer the chance to consider alternatives to bonding.”
Bowen, travel advisor to chartered accountants MacIntyre Hudson and a former ABTA head of legal services, added: “This could well be the first step in the demise of the bonding system, which has been a noose around the neck of agents for too long.
“I urge the travel industry to provide full backing to the CAA in its proposal to secure a levy not only to replenish the Air Travel Trust fund but also to extend protection to all airline tickets.”
Speaking at an ABTA/MacIntyre Hudson seminar, he said: “In a survey conducted by the CAA, we found that the majority (56%) of consumers believe that they are fully protected for their holiday and flight, and that this protection is covered by their travel insurance.
“Attempts to change this perception including the ‘if only I had an ATOL’ campaign have evidently failed. Therefore, if consumers are prepared to pay £10 or £20 for insurance, then I don’t think they would object to the proposed levy of £1 on their flight or £2 for a flight with ‘other facilities’ such as an overnight stay.”
Report by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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