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More than 160 firms fail to get ATOLs renewed
A total of 164 firms out of almost 1,000 due to renew of their ATOLs with the Civil Aviation Authority this spring failed to get licences granted.
There were 983 licence holders out of 2,316 current ATOLs due for renewal in March – the remainder renew in September.
ATOL licensing manager Simon Froome said: “We were pleased with the overall renewal result this year, especially as the number of ATOL holders has grown significantly over the last 18 months or so.
“This renewal round was 25% larger than the March renewal two years ago, and although more organisers failed to renew on time, this was not surprising in view of the number of firms renewing for the first time.
“Almost 80% of these firms fall into the Small Business ATOL category, where the organiser needs to demonstrate to us that it will restrict the level of business under the ATOL to less than 500 passengers per annum.
“A number left it very late to apply for renewal and were therefore not able to provide the bond and other confirmations necessary to enable us to renew their licences. However, we expect the majority of firms that failed to renew on time to do so in early April.”
He added: “In general, most ATOL holders were looking to maintain their licence authorisation at a similar level to last year, albeit with some modest growth in the licence category that covers flights sold with accommodation or other products such as car hire. However, the expansion seen in the past from the internet specialists has slowed markedly.
“At every renewal round there are always a number of licence holders who decide not to renew and this has been seen in the past as a rather basic measure of the strength of the ATOL market. This time, the percentage of firms dropping out of ATOL was up on previous March renewals, but again we suspect that a factor in this was the increased number of small businesses now holding ATOLs, who are more likely to enter and exit the market at short notice.”
At the end of the renewal period, 99% of the firms that had provided their renewal information to the authority had been given a decision, according to the CAA.
Report by Phil Davies
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