CAA: Flight Plus must be in place by January 1
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The Civil Aviation Authority has admitted it is in a race against time to get its proposed new Flight Plus consumer protection scheme in place by the time the summer 2012 main booking season kicks off in January.
The long-awaited trade consultation on the scheme, which will extend ATOL regulations to agents booking flights with accommodation and/or car hire, has yet to be begin and the CAA admitted at the AITO conference on Friday that it still doesn’t have a definite date for the launch of the consultation process, though it is expected to be “within the next couple of weeks or so”.
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Head of ATOL licensing Andy Cohen (pictured here) told AITO delegates it was vital the scheme was in place by January 1, otherwise customers who book early could be left high and dry if a tour operator fails during the summer, but those who book late will be covered.
“If we delay until April, if someone goes bust we won’t know who is protected and who is not,” he said, whilst admitting that the timeframe was “challenging”.
The trade will have three months to respond to the CAA’s proposals, after which the Department for Transport will take ‘about a month’ to consider their comments.
Cohen urged agents to take part, but warned that the industry needed to speak with one voice and not demand too much from the reforms, such as a further extension of the ATOL scheme to scheduled airlines.
“There is an opportunity here for the industry to create a level playing field, but if you get bogged down in wanting everything now you will lose the government’s ear,” he said. “I would urge people to think clearly before responding.”
Asked whether there was a danger that agents would try to sidestep the need for a licence by selling flights and accommodation as separate transactions on different days, Cohen said the CAA had been “cunning”.
He added: “There will be a clause to avoid that. You will see when the details are announced that we have been cunning.”
He said that agents should see the new legislation as a benefit rather than a hindrance. “They can use it as a sales tool, by saying to the customer who books a flight “look, come back tomorrow and book your hotel or villa with me and your whole holiday will be protected.”
Cohen blamed the delay to the Flight Plus consultation on government bureaucracy, but he said the details would be announced “very soon'”.
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by Linsey McNeill
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Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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