ATOL renewals process completed following extension
The Civil Aviation Authority says 1,182 of the 1,283 ATOLs that expired on September 30 have been granted.
Of the remaining 101, 51 did not reapply and 50 have not yet been renewed.
This year’s ATOL renewal process was extended until October 25 in light of the collapse of Thomas Cook Group.
The extension enabled the CAA and ATOL holders affected by the failure of Thomas Cook to focus resources on looking after customers, as well as due consideration of the ATOL holders applying for a renewal.
Some ATOL holders’ applications had already been processed, however 344 ATOL holders had their licences extended to this date.
Under normal conditions, ATOL holders that submitted their applications later than recommended would not benefit from an extension to their licence.
Despite the extension to the ATOL renewals process, the deadline for submissions remained at 30 September 2019.
CAA head of ATOL licensing operations Michael Budge said: "We would like to thank the travel industry for their support during this time.
"Given the unique circumstances, we have used this extension to process the outstanding applications and give due consideration to all ATOL holders submitting their renewal applications.
"Our online renewal system also allowed us to efficiently approve applications from smaller companies even while we completed the two week repatriation programme.
"The circumstances surrounding the failure of Thomas Cook highlight the need to continue to focus on ensuring the appropriate protection of advance customer monies as well as ATOL holders maintaining adequate liquidity, sufficient to meet future obligations.
"It is important that ATOL holders continue to work closely with the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s ATOL team, so that we can provide support where possible for the benefit of both the travel industry and consumers."
TUI UK is the biggest ATOL holder, at 5.55 million passengers; Jet2holidays is second and On the Beach Travel is third.
The top-10 ATOL holders are:
- Tui UK – 5.55 million
- Jet2holidays – 3.9 million
- On the Beach Travel – 1.6 million
- We Love Holidays – 1.3 million
- British Airways Holidays – 1 million
- Expedia Group – 874,208
- EasyJet Airline Company – 793,874
- BravoNext (lastminute.com) – 640,555
- Travel Republic – 555,060
- Virgin Holidays – 377,712
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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