AAC supports £1 protection levy
The Association of ATOL Companies is backing a £1 passenger levy as part of suggested reform of passenger protection regulations
Chairman David Mortimer said the organisation supported the Civil Aviation Authority’s proposed reform of the ATOL bonding arrangements and the replenishment of the back-up Air Travel Trust Fund.
He said: “We endorse the need to support the changes by effective monitoring and the appointment of Accountable Managers, we also believe this will result in lower administration costs for ATOL holders.
“In our view, the proposed charge of £1 is appropriate in the current circumstances, based as it is, on the historic failure rate and the model prepared for the proposals”.
In response to CAA consultation on ATOL reform, the AAC, which represents 60 companies with combined sales of more than £2.5 billion a year, said it had made no secret for some time that it believed bonding was no longer the best answer to the problem of financial protection.
“As an organisation, we recognise the importance of consumer protection for the ongoing health of the travel market and have expressed our concerns at recent moves by the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) to move away from the protection they have provided in the past.
“This, combined with the recent judgement in the Judicial Review against CAA Guidance Note 26 and the opportunities for possible confusion as a result, suggests that the number of people protected by financial protection may fall in the future.
“This is in our view a retrograde step and we are concerned of the risk that consumers who discover that protection which they assumed was in place is missing at the time of a financial failure, are more likely to by-pass all travel intermediaries, including our members, and book direct with suppliers in the future.”
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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