ABTA warning after latest airline folds
ABTA has issued a warning about consumers being left out of pocket after Dutch airline Vbird collapsed.
The suspension of flights and subsequent collapse of the scheduled airline resulted in hundreds of passengers – a number of them British – being stranded and having to buy alternative tickets to get back to the UK.
Other passengers with forward bookings are unlikely to receive any form of refund unless they have used a UK credit card and paid more than £100; or booked as part of a package.
ABTA drawing attention to this failure as it joins at least 10 other airline collapses in five years and highlights concerns that consumers booking direct with these airlines can be financially exposed.
However, ABTA tour operators and ATOL holders are required to protect their clients if an airline fails.
Airline failures since 1999 include: Debonair, Ansett, Gill, Swissair, Sabena, Jet-Green, Duo, Air Planet, SkyNet and Now.
ABTA chief executive Ian Reynolds said: “The Vbird collapse is another example of where travelling consumers are now vulnerable.
“If as a customer you had booked a Vbird flight with an ABTA tour operator or ATOL holding company, you would have been brought home. However, this week we have heard reports of hundreds of people – who had booked direct – left to find a new and expensive flight home.”
ABTA believes that 98% of leisure flights and holidays were financially protected in 1997, but this dropped to 70% in 2003 when it was estimated that 12 million leisure passengers were unprotected.
The association is backing Civil Aviation Authority proposals to extend financial protection to cover all scheduled airline flights. The government is assessing the economic practicalities of introducing new, more comprehensive measures.
“We sincerely hope that they will legislate and close the protection gap,” said Mr Reynolds.
Report by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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