More talks planned after levy plan rejected

Friday, 11 Oct, 2005 0

Industry leaders will sit down for talks with aviation minister Karen Buck this week after the government unceremoniously rejected plans for a £1 levy.

Just hours before a scheduled debate in the House of Commons, the department of transport threw out the proposals, claiming the “attractions are outweighed by the disadvantages.”

The decision, which followed months of exhaustive studies by the CAA, left industry bodies angry and frustrated.

Federation of Tour Operators director general Andy Cooper said: “The biggest disappointment is that they have closed the door entirely. That said, the government has described the current ATOL system as bureaucratic and wants to find ways of replacing it. We regard that as quite important and will meet with the aviation minister on Thursday.”

The Civil Aviation Authority also described the ruling as disappointing but said the government wanted further consultation over updating the ATOL system.

“We will have to consult the industry and see how best to take this forward,” said deputy director of consumer protection David Moesli.

ABTA and the Association of Independent Tour Operators were less diplomatic

A statement from ABTA said customers will ultimately suffer.

“The government has failed to act in the interests of millions of air passengers who are now unknowingly placed at financial risk,” the association said. “It has flown in the face of a strong coalition of over 100 MPs from all parties, the major consumer groups and the CAA while accepting the arguments of the big airlines wholesale.

“There is no doubt that passengers will suffer from the decision in the near future and for as long as there is no universal system of consumer protection for flyers.”

AITO declared itself “shell-shocked” at the announcement.

Director Noel Josephides said: “Consumer protection obviously doesn’t concern the government. This was an opportunity to update the antiquated travel bonding system that currently applies to just one half of the travel industry, leaving the other half unregulated from a consumer protection viewpoint.

“To announce such a decision just hours before the topic was due to be debated in the house of commons is rubbing salt into the wounds. We believed that the debate would give us the opportunity for our voice to be heard. It appears however that democracy exists no longer in the UK as the government rode roughshod over us and made the announcement hours before the debate.”

Josephides added that the decision showed a “remarkable disregard” for consumers and claimed overcapacity in the airline market would inevitably result in another failure.

“It’s not a question of if, but when more scheduled airline will fail leaving unprotected passengers to bail themselves out.”

Airlines, including BA, Easyjet and Ryanair, all welcomed the decision.

Report by Steve Jones