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Government continues to block levy plan
Industry leaders have attacked the government’s continuing failure to introduce a £1 customer protection levy into the Civil Aviation Bill.
The angry response followed the reading of the bill in the House of Commons yesterday – with the levy noticeable by its absence.
The Federation of Tour Operators and ABTA both branded the decision a “missed opportunity” which will continue to leave millions of air travellers at financial risk.
The CAA declined to comment but is also thought to be disappointed with the on-going failure to introduce a levy.
Minister of state for transport Dr Stephen Ladyman said the government was not ruling out an extension to financial protection but stressed it was “not a black and white issue”.
“There are strong arguments in favour of the levy and strong arguments against,” he said.
FTO director general Andy Cooper described it as “incredibly disappointing”.
“They are looking to push this into the long grass which is appalling,” he told TravelMole. “This was the perfect opportunity to address the issue and its arguments against it are incredibly thin.”
The bill will now be discussed by a standing committee before returning for a third reading in the Commons.
Cooper said industry bodies will now lobby members of the committee and urge them to include the levy.
“But timing is against,” he said. “The committee is due to sit on July 5. The Government is trying to push through this bill when there is no need to. For 10 years we have looked at this and now they want to rush things through.”
An ABTA spokesman said it was disappointed it has not made the progress it hoped.
“We are not saying airlines will go bust but at some point one will,” he said. “The public are in favour of this and so is the travel industry.”
Report by Steve Jones
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