The Civil Aviation Authority is ditching plans to abolish the Small Business ATOL (SBA) from April following consultation with the trade.
It said today that the SBA will remain, but not in its current form. It declined to say whether in future it might be based on turnover rather than on passenger numbers.
A spokesman said: "Our full response to the Rebalancing ATOL consultation will be published in the coming weeks.
"Notwithstanding this we can confirm the Small Business ATOL will be retained, although in a revised form, and will include a financial test based on solvency.
"More information on when and how the changes will be implemented will be available in due course."
Details of the changes are expected to be announced after revisions to the Package Travel Directive are made public, which is expected to be in the spring.
In the meantime, the SBA will remain in place for companies that carry up to 500 passengers a year.
