30 September 2008

CAA tells passengers with XL refunds ââ¬Ëœto bear with usââ¬â¢

The Civil Aviation Authority is working on refund claims from people with pre-booked ATOL-protected XL holidays having completed a mass repatriation operation.

The preliminary work necessary to process the refunds from more than 200,000 customers who pre-booked holidays with XL has started.

But with an estimated 70,000 claims expected to be received the refund process will take longer than for smaller failures, the CAA admitted.

Consumer protection director Richard Jackson said: ââ¬ÅâœThe task of repatriating XL customers at the end of their holidays is now by and large completed.

ââ¬ÅâœWe are pleased that overall these arrangements have worked well and once again I want to extend my thanks to our colleagues in the travel industry and the overseas representatives of Thomson/First Choice, Thomas Cook and Virgin Holidays, whose hard work ensured the smoothest possible operation.

ââ¬ÅâœWe recognise the need to learn from our experiences and we will be reviewing our response so far to the XL failure to ensure that any relevant lessons are learned to ensure that the CAA continues to offer customers affected by failures such as this one the best level of service.

ââ¬ÅâœWe now ask claimants to bear with us and understand we are working as swiftly as possible to process refund claims.ââ¬~

An estimated 83,000 travellers have been flown home during the 17 days since the collapse of the XL Leisure Group.

The CAA arranged 222 flights from 40 destinations following the company going into administration on September 12.

A small number of ATOL-protected XL tour operator customers are still abroad on extended trips, the authority said.

ââ¬ÅâœThe CAA will continue to work with UK tour operators abroad and the Foreign Office to ensure that information is available about what people still abroad should do about flights home and, where appropriate, obtaining a refund from the CAA,ââ¬~ a statement said.

ââ¬ÅâœThere will be no further chartered repatriation flights operating, so any customers who booked direct with XL Airways and are not ATOL protected will now have to make their own arrangements to return to the UK.ââ¬~

by Phil Davies

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