Scottish agents have reinforced a call for an all-encompassing review of the “defective” consumer financial protection system for UK travellers.
The Scottish Passenger Agents Association re-iterated its long-held view that all airlines should be required by law to be part of any new financial protection system.
This is in recognition of the fact that no airline – whether low-cost or full-service – can now be considered to be beyond the risk of financial failure, the organisation said in its response to the European Commission’s consultation on the 20-year old Package Travel Directive.
The SPAA called for any review to lead to the introduction of a new, coherent and transparent system of travel consumer financial protection covering all air-based travel arrangements, whether or not they fit the traditional ‘pre-packaged’ model which increasingly does not reflect actual booking and purchasing habits in the UK.
All travel booking channels – airlines, traditional tour operators and online travel services providers, telephone and web-based contact centres – should come under any new system.
This would ensure that every air-based travel purchase – whether or not it includes additional products and services – is 100% financially secure for the consumer, the SPAA argues.
Travel associations in the UK are in general agreement on how a new system should be organised and operated.
The SPAA, ABTA and other interested parties continue to discuss and co-ordinate their lobbying efforts.
Representatives of the two associations will be meeting with the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and Department for Transport, to further clarify and explain their views and objectives.
SPAA president Brian Potter said: “We are clear and unequivocal in our position that the current system of consumer financial protection is broken beyond repair, and that the EU and the UK must develop, as a matter of urgency, a new regime in which all consumers can buy travel products and services via the channel which best meets their needs, absolutely secure in the knowledge that their money is protected.
“The ongoing consultations in Europe and the UK give us the opportunity to help get this right for the future.”
by Phil Davies
Travel Agent
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